CHENNAI: In a heartening development for Indian boxers preparing for Olympic qualifiers, the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) has written to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), showing interest in hosting the Asia/Oceania qualifying event in New Delhi.
A day after IOC announced that the qualifiers scheduled in Wuhan, China, have been cancelled due to coronavirus outbreak, the BFI said it is willing to host the event in case it is shifted out of Wuhan. It now depends on whether the event is actually moved out of China, as some believe.
The letter dated January 21 and signed by BFI president Ajay Singh said: “Due to any reason the event is to be shifted to a different country, Boxing Federation of India would be willing to host the Asian and Oceania Qualification Event 2020.”
The BFI has proposed to organise the event at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall at the Indira Gandhi Stadium Complex. The matter would be discussed by the IOC’s Boxing Task Force before arriving at a decision. The IOA president Narinder Batra has sent another letter of support, to the IOC Boxing Task Force.
BFI executive director Rajkumar Sacheti, who is part of an expert panel to guide the Task Force, said India would be able to host the event in a short notice as it already has the necessary equipment and infrastructure. "We can host the event at a very short notice," assured Sacheti. "We have infrastructure ready and all equipment in place. So we can host the event on a date suggested by the IOC’s Boxing Task Force."
If India does get to host the event, it will give the boxers a big opportunity to qualify. Boxing in favourable home conditions is always an advantage for boxers.
The BFI is hopeful that it will get the event. About the finances, they are expecting to attract sponsors and also government assistance. However, all formalities will be addressed once the federation gets a nod from the IOC.
The sports ministry has already said that they would want national sports federations to organise as many international events in India as possible, preferably big-ticket events. According to the ministry, since it’s an Olympic qualifier event, it would not be averse to assisting the BFI. The ministry, however, is waiting for a final confirmation.