International Boxing Association terminates India, says office-bearers damaging sport

March 5, 2014

International_BoxingLausanne/Switzerland, Mar 5: Furious with the current logjam in the suspended Indian Boxing Federation, the International Boxing Association has terminated the IBF from its fold stating that the current set of office-bearers are "damaging the image, reputation and interest" of the sport.

In a tersely-worded statement, the AIBA said it is not in a position to make a "proper" judgement on how to handle India's case after receiving conflicting communications from various stakeholders. The boxers and coaches will, however, continue to remain unaffected by the development and can participate in international events under the AIBA flag till the time the crisis is unresolved.

"It is with much regret that the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Executive Committee (EC) has decided to end any official relationship with its current suspended member, the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) after an extensive evaluation and assessment of all issues surrounding the sport of boxing in India," the world body said in its latest missive.

AIBA President Ching Kuo Wu said the IBF is unlikely to be re-recognised till the time a new set of officials take charge after fresh elections, the screening of candidates for which would be done by the world body. "As AIBA President and on behalf of the entire boxing family, I am expressing my deepest regret and sadness that we had to make this decision," stated Dr Wu.

"AIBA has always regarded India as one of the most important members of its family, but it has become impossible for us to bear the hard feelings, the pain and suffering the boxers as well as the boxing family in India had to go through under the past and recent leadership which has also been damaging the image, reputation and interest of our sport in the country," he added. Sources said the latest AIBA diktat is the result of a letter sent by IOA Secretary General Rajeev Mehta in which he sought to persuade the body to recognise the present set of IBF office-bearers. The request was not taken kindly by the AIBA, which decided to terminate India.

After provisionally suspending the IBF on December 6, 2012, AIBA has not recognised any official activities and did not support the Indian officials for almost 16 months. However, AIBA promised to review the situation when the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had its suspension lifted by the IOC.

"Nevertheless, before and after the IOA election and lifting of suspension, AIBA received different claims from various groups of people on the way the sport of boxing was managed in India and it has therefore now become totally impossible for AIBA to make proper judgements in terms of handling the National Federation's affairs in India," the AIBA stated.

AIBA said it was looking to get clean officials in the IBF after fresh elections. The IBF was suspended for "possible manipulation" in elections. "It is believed that the only way to get the sport of boxing back on track in India would be for it to be left in the hands of trustful, clean and honest people who love boxing and to give the opportunity to any group of people with passion and love for our sport to submit applications for the establishment of a new National Federation. AIBA will however not tolerate any governmental or sports authority interference in this process," AIBA said.

"Based on the reasons set out above and in accordance with article 18.2 of the AIBA Statutes, the IABF is now provisionally excluded from AIBA Membership as of today. "The AIBA EC will make a final decision and rehabilitate a National Federation for boxing in India as soon as it deems that it has found the right group of people who will support the principles of AIBA in terms of ethics and fairness and who care primarily about the boxers and our beloved sport and not about their personal interests," it added.

The AIBA congress is scheduled to be held from November 8 to 15 in Jeju Islands, South Korea. "AIBA also hopes that the IOA will give its full cooperation until AIBA approves a new National Federation for the sake of the sport of boxing in India.

"AIBA will now wait for requests by any organisation or person to submit an application and once contacted, full guidelines for the new application process will be given," the body stated.

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News Network
July 21,2020

Melbourne, Jul 21: Cricket Australia's chief executive Nick Hockley has said that the Indian players and staff will most likely be asked to face two weeks of quarantine before the four-match Test series.

This scenario will bring the Adelaide Oval and its newly constructed hotel firmly into view as the sort of biosecure bubble, ESPNCricinfo reported.

India and Australia are slated to face each other in a four-match Test series, which is to begin from December 4 at Brisbane.

"The two-week quarantine is pretty well-defined. What we are working on is making sure that even within that quarantine environment, the players have got the absolute best training facilities, so that their preparation for the matches is as optimal as it can possibly be," ESPNCricinfo quoted Hockey as saying.

"Certainly the fact that the Adelaide Oval has a hotel. It does provide a facility not dissimilar to Old Trafford or Ageas Bowl where the hotels are integrated into the venue," he added.

Hockley also said that an exacting standard of biosecurity and testing would be applied before the series against India as the coronavirus cases are spiking in the subcontinent.

"It's widely known and it's unlikely that international travel restrictions would have lifted by the time that India will be due to come into the country. Clearly there will be testing regimes. We will be able to test people before that they get on to the plane and it is the nature of the situation of making sure we have the quarantine arrangements in line with government and health authority protocols," Hockley said.

"The key thing for the players is that there's regular testing and that we appropriately quarantine them when they come in and all of those plans are currently in development," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced the postponement of the T20 World Cup 2020 slated to be held in Australia from October 18-November 15 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Following the announcement, the BCCI is likely to go ahead with the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the October-November window. However, it is known where the T20 tournament will be played as cases continue to rise in India.
"I think the BCCI has made no secrets that they are considering what that means for the IPL. For us, it's about getting a bit of an understanding and certainty around what that means. Clearly, in a normal course, some of our best players are obviously top picks for those IPL teams," Hockley said.

"It's a bit premature to speculate on that. We need to understand what the plans are if any and once we understand that we will make decisions accordingly," he added.

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News Network
May 15,2020

New Delhi, May 15: Former England skipper David Gower feels Sourav Ganguly has the right "political skills" to lead the ICC one day and he has already displayed that as BCCI president, which is a "far tougher job".

The elegant left-hander is very impressed with Ganguly's leadership abilities and believes that he has what it takes to head the global body in the future.

"One thing I have learnt over the years is that if you are going to run BCCI, you need to be many, many things. Having a reputation like he (Ganguly) has is a very good start, but you need to be a very deft politician.

"You need to have control of a million different things," Gower said ahead of "Q20", a unique chat show for the fans presented by 'GloFans'.

Gower reckons being president of the BCCI is the toughest job imaginable in world cricket.

"And of course, you need to be responsible for a game that is followed by, I mean, should we say a billion people here in India," he said.

"We all know about the immense following for cricket in India. So it is indeed a wonderful thing to behold. Sourav has the toughest task imaginable in charge of BCCI, but so far I would say the signs are very good.

"He has listened, given his own opinion and has pulled strings gently," he said.

Political skills are a must in administration and that's where Gower finds his fellow left-hander ticking all the boxes.

"He is a very, very good man and has those political skills. He has the right attitude and can keep things together and will do good job. And if you do a good job as BCCI chief in the future, who knows?

"But I would actually say the more important job, to be honest, is running BCCI. Being head of ICC is an honour, there is a lot that can be done by ICC, but actually look at the rankings, look at where the power is heading up. BCCI is definitely the bigger job," he said.

On the cricketing front, Gower believes World Test Championship has given the format much-needed context.

"The idea of this World Test Championship has come about for one very simple reason that people are worried about the survival of Tests. Back in the seventies, eighties, I don't think we needed context to be fair.

"Test cricket was very much more obviously the most important format and if there was anything to be judged by, it was the performances in Test matches both as an individual and as a team.

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Agencies
February 26,2020

It could be Virat Kohli versus Faf du Plessis in the Asia XI-World XI two-match T20 series that has been organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on March 18 and 21 -- subject to the India skipper confirming his availability.

The matches will be played to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The BCB is awaiting a confirmation from Kohli as well as K.L. Rahul for the March 18 game as India are set to play South Africa on the same day in the final ODI of a three-match series at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Agencies had earlier reported that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly had sent the names of Kohli, Mohammed Shami, Shikhar Dhawan and Kuldeep Yadav to the BCB for the two matches. And they all feature in the Asia XI team with the addition of wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant and Rahul.

Announcing the names, BCB President Nazmul Hassan said: "We have already received four names from India. We haven't signed contracts but Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan and Mohammed Shami are supposed to come. They have said K.L. Rahul and Virat Kohli will play one game each, but that hasn't been finalised.

"Players like Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman have finalised with us, from Afghanistan. Nepal's Sandeep Lamichhane will play while from Sri Lanka, we will have Lasith Malinga and Thisara Perera. From Bangladesh, we will have Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mustafizur Rahman, Mahmudullah and Liton Das.

"I don't remember all the names, but we will have three or four players from South Africa. Definitely, there will be the same number of players from West Indies. Australia and New Zealand will be playing but we will try to find some (players). Bairstow is definitely coming. Ngidi is coming. Chris Gayle is supposed to play. Faf du Plessis. We will have some of the best players around. We are uncertain about Pakistan since the PSL is will be ongoing. We will invite some of the cricketing greats."

Squads: Asia XI: Virat Kohli*, K.L. Rahul*, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Shikhar Dhawan, Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Thisara Perera, Rashid Khan, Mustifizur Rehman, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lasith Malinga, Muzeeb ur Rehman

World XI: Alex Hales, Chris Gayle, Faf du Plessis (Captain), Nicholas Pooran, Ross Taylor, Jonny Bairstow, Kieron Pollard, Adil Rashid, Sheldon Cottrell, Lungi Ngidi, Andrew Tye, Mitchell McClenaghan. (Coach: Tom Moody)

Note: (*) For one game; Kohli's selection subject to confirmation.

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