Boxing Federation of India treads on thin ice for not paying host fee

The AIBA statement on Thursday was curt and debunked claims of the BFI that it acted in haste to award the men’s world championships to Belgrade, Serbia.
For representational purposes (File Photo | AP)
For representational purposes (File Photo | AP)

The indications are vivid and there is no ambiguity. There seems to be a discord brewing between the Boxing Federation of India and the international boxing association (AIBA). After the latest letter from the AIBA refuting claims by the boxing federation that they could not pay the amount because of frozen AIBA account in Lausanne and in Serbia due to regulation issues, it is clear that both are not on the same page. Their words are surely not reflections of close proximity. Now we are staring at another stand-off that has the potential to rattle Indian boxing ahead of the Tokyo Olympics and spoil all the good work BFI had done over the last few years.

The AIBA statement on Thursday was curt and debunked claims of the BFI that it acted in haste to award the men’s world championships to Belgrade, Serbia. “As per this agreement, half of the host fees were due and payable on 1 December 2019. But as New Delhi did not fulfil its obligations to pay the host fee as mentioned in the Host City Agreement, despite numerous reminders by AIBA and after having been offered multiple options to settle their obligations, AIBA had no choice but to terminate the contract in April 2020,” said the statement. What’s more worrisome is that AIBA is, in fact, alleging India even failed to pay the hosting fee for the women’s world championships in 2018. “The decision by AIBA was also prompted by the fact that almost two-thirds of the Host Fee due by BFI for having hosted the 2018 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships remains outstanding to date, more than 18 months after the event,” said the statement.

There are indications that the BFI is yet to pay a huge undisclosed amount (supposed to be in thousands of Swiss francs) to the AIBA because it paid only a portion of the instalment agreed upon by both parties in January. The BFI still maintains what it had said on Tuesday and also said that its president Ajay Si0ngh is in talks with interim chief Mohamed Moustahsane. It also feels that the $500,000 fine imposed by AIBA would be waived off, even on Thursday. India feels that AIBA is the one that terminated its contract by calling for bids in December last year. So the question of penalty doesn’t arise.

However, there are a co­uple of questions that do arise. Why has India not paid the dues as AIBA alleges? And why did it not wa­nt to host the men’s world championships in 2021? The answers are not out as yet, but the able administrators will definitely come up with plausible expl­an­ation. It has been seen in the past that too much defiance can lead to extreme consequ­ences. India has a history of being de-affiliated by the AIBA. It is no secret that he­althy relationships with AIBA also reflect in the results column of supporting federations.

Last year in June, the International Olympic Committee took over the boxing qualification and competition for the Tokyo Games. It suspended the AIBA over concerns of finances and governance. The IOC is taking charge of the Olympic qualifying events and is likely to continue until the Tokyo Olympics next year. Since AIBA itself is trying to put its house in order, the extreme step of suspension is not expected. Whatever it is, the BFI is once again treading on thin ice this time. The BFI needs to act fast.

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