The suspended Indian BoxingFederation (IABF) claims to have taken the first step towardsregaining recognition from the International BoxingAssociation by preparing the draft of an amended constitutionwhich would be compliant with the AIBA statute.
AIBA suspended IABF last year in December, citing theInternational Olympic Committee's ban on the Indian OlympicAssociation and "possible manipulation" in its elections.
The international body had asked the IABF to hold are-election and amend its Constitution to fulfil the criteriaof getting the suspension revoked.
"Some of the vice-Presidents and senior officials of theIABF, including President of the suspended body, AbhishekMatoria, met in Chandigarh on January 6. They discussed theconstitutional amendments that have been suggested by AIBA andalso went through the AIBA statute," an IABF source told PTI.
"The draft is in accordance with the AIBA statute andwill be sent to them soon for approval. Once AIBA approves it,the amendments will be incorporated into the constitution andthe next step would be a re-election," he added.
In the new draft prepared by the IABF officials, rulesand provisions of AIBA Professional Boxing and the WorldSeries of Boxing have been incorporated, as suggested by theworld body.
"In our previous Constitution, professional boxing wasnot touched upon but in the amended one, the rules andprovisions would be elaborated. Besides, the previousConstitution merely stated that elections to IABF would beheld every four years without laying down ground rules andeligibility criteria for it," said the official.
"But in the amendments, the entire procedure will be laiddown properly. This draft will be sent in a day or two andonce we get the approval, things will become smooth," headded.