New Delhi, Oct 28 A faction of the Boxing Federation of India, seeking the removal of president Ajay Singh and claiming the support of 27 state units, met Union Minister of State for Sports Raksha Khadse on Wednesday and sought intervention over alleged governance lapses in the federation.
Eight of the 13 BFI executive committee members, including secretary general Pramod Kumar, senior vice-presidents Rajesh Bhandari and Leonardo D’Gama, treasurer Pon Baskaran and joint secretaries Teli Khai and Swapan Banerjee, gathered in the national capital.
Madhya Pradesh’s Digvijay Singh and Assam’s Hemanta Kalita, who served as treasurer and secretary, respectively, during Singh’s previous term, were among the representatives of 27 state units present in a show of strength against Singh, who was elected for a third term last year.
Representatives from Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha and Jharkhand were also present.
The group submitted a memorandum to the Sports Ministry, Indian Olympic Association and World Boxing president Gennadiy Golovkin.
“We have just met the Minister of State for Sports and submitted our memorandum. We will go to the IOA as well. We want to make them aware of the situation,” Bhandari said.
The gathering was originally intended to be a Special General Meeting (SGM), convened by Kumar to move a no-confidence motion against Singh.
However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday directed to keep the meeting in abeyance until the next hearing on November 13.
“How long can we keep fighting in court? Ajay Singh has kept us waiting for two years (as cases relating to the validity of the new constitution are still going on),” Bhandari said.
“We don’t have the financial resources to fight court cases. Every time an official within the Boxing Federation has questioned Ajay Singh’s authority, they have either been suspended or served with a show-cause notice. We may just have to go and sit at Jantar Mantar to protest,” he added.
“Today we were not able to hold the meeting for the purpose for which it was called. We can’t question the court but we thought we would still meet and discuss the issues,” Bhandari said.
The memorandum accused Singh of concentrating powers in his hands, sidelining elected office-bearers and undermining democratic processes within the federation.
It also alleged that the BFI constitution was revised without adequate scrutiny and claimed that the state representatives were muted and denied an opportunity to speak during an online meeting on the proposed changes on August 27.
Representatives of the state units flagged concerns over the lack of grassroots development and a clear competition calendar.
“There are no plans for grassroots-level development and no competitions. We are not given a calendar outlining the competitions,” Bhandari alleged.
“There is no clarity about when the National Championships will be held, and when they are held, the announcement comes just 20 days before the tournament.”
The faction also alleged that technical officials had not been paid their travel and daily allowances for several years.
“There is no development of coaches, referees and judges. The technical officials who conduct domestic tournaments have not been paid TA/DA for the past five to six years,” Bhandari said.
“Medallists at the National Championships have not received the cash rewards promised to them,” he alleged.
Later in the day, the BFI, in an official statement, said 21 of its 35 “authorised state units” had participated in a two-day Mission Olympic Podium meeting in Bagdogra, West Bengal.
“Twenty-one of the Boxing Federation of India’s 35 authorised state units participated in a two-day ‘Mission Olympic Podium’ meeting here, bringing a majority of its state units together around Indian boxing’s Olympic ambitions and an athlete-first approach,” the press release stated.
(PTI News)
