CHENNAI: Late on Monday night, Indian boxing authorities got an SOS from their high performance director Santiago Nieva. His tone seemed off and his words perturbed. Currently overseeing a training camp in Assisi (Italy), he was a worried man. There are no prizes for guessing, yes, it is because of coronavirus and not in East Asia but miles away in Europe. The Italian authorities apparently have imposed restrictions in northern Italy, where seven people have died due to the deadly virus. It is the most affected nation outside Asia. That bothered Nieva and all the boxers, who are currently making last-minute preparations before they head to Amman, Jordan, for the Asia/Oceania Olympic qualifiers. Coincidentally, the original Olympic qualifiers supposed to be held in China earlier month was cancelled due to coronavirus.
On Tuesday afternoon, Nieva sounded much more optimistic. Speaking to Italian authorities and Boxing Federation of India (BFI) officials seem to have lessened Nieva’s worries and he revealed that Amit Panghal & Co will continue to train as per schedule.
Late night drama
The director spoke to the BFI secretary Jay Kowli at around midnight and told him that they would not want to be stuck in Italy if the government shuts down the airports there. Kowli assured them the machinery would be put in place to do the best possible solution for the players and the team.
RK Sacheti, the BFI executive director, said they were ready and narrated the behind-the-scenes machinery that started working towards evacuating the team at the earliest. “We spoke to Nieva and EUBC chief Franco Falcinelli to get a clear picture of the ground situation. Around 1-1.30am, we got in touch with our official travel agent to block seats on the afternoon and evening flights from Rome to Amman, Jordan.”
The official also narrated how they got in touch with the Jordan Olympic Association secretary Nasser Majali at around 1.30am India time. “It must have been 9.30 or 10pm in Jordan. I explained to him the situation and within five minutes they confirmed that Jordan would receive and host the athletes whenever they arrive. They will take care of their stay and food.”
However, when the BFI officials spoke to the director on Tuesday, he told them they can continue to train there for couple of more days as there were sparring sessions scheduled on Wednesday. “They got scared a little but now they will continue training until Wednesday and leave for Jordan on February 27 morning,” said Sacheti.
Fear factor
What calmed the team down? “The Ireland team were planning to leave on Monday but they stayed back. The Italian authorities have handed us assurances and we will continue our camp,” Nieva told this daily. The Indian team (men and women) are currently training along with boxers from other nations including host nation Italy, Ireland and Romania, to name a few, ahead of qualifiers scheduled to begin on March 3. After discussions with the BFI officials, Nieva said the plan was to leave as early as possible. “We were looking at an option of leaving early, checking with organisers in Amman if they could have us early. But now we will continue our sessions here as per schedule.” An Indian boxer, who is part of the camp, explained because boxers from other countries were worried and wanted to leave early, they too started feeling uneasy.