New Delhi, Oct 28 (PTI) A faction of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), seeking the removal of president Ajay Singh and claiming the support of 27 member units, met Union Minister of State for Sports Raksha Khadse on Wednesday and submitted a memorandum highlighting alleged governance lapses in the federation.
Eight of the 13 executive committee members, including suspended secretary general Pramod Kumar, vice-presidents Rajesh Bhandari and Leonardo D’Gama, and treasurer Pon Baskaran, gathered in the national capital for a meeting.
Representatives of 27 state units, including those from Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Assam and Madhya Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha and Jharkhand, were also present.
The group later went to meet Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President PT Usha in a show of strength against Singh.
“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 Kumar 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.
Bhandari said the memorandum raised concerns over changes to the BFI constitution, which the faction alleged had concentrated powers in Singh’s hands, as well as the contentious selection procedure and other governance-related issues.
“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.
Representatives of the state units also 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. PTI APA APA PDS
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