After Olympic shame, now Indian boxing federation suspended by International body

December 7, 2012
indian_box


New Delhi, December 7: After the shock suspension of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) handed over a provisional suspension to the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) on Thursday.


The IABF was formerly led by Abhay Singh Chautala, who was also elected as the president of the Indian Olympic Association. The current president of the Indian federation is Abhishek Matoria, who was elected on September 23. Chautala was then nominated the chairman of the national body.


"Further to the International Olympic Committee's suspension imposed on the Indian Olympic Association, the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Executive Committee Bureau has decided today December 6 to provisionally suspend the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF)," the AIBA said in a statement.

"This provisional suspension is also due to the fact that AIBA had learned about possible manipulation of the recent IABF's election.

"AIBA will now investigate this election and especially a potential political link between IOA President, as former Chairman of the IABF, and the IABF election," it added.

The development now also puts a question mark over Chautala's election as IOA President since he came into the fray as an IABF representative. Interestingly, Abhishek Matoria, who was elected as the new IABF President, is his brother-in-law and BJP MLA from Rajasthan.

The shocking development meanwhile had also reached the boxers and Vijender Singh had a disappointing tone to his voice while speaking to NDTV.

The ace Indian boxer said,"I am really disappointed with this suspension. This is bad news for Indian sportsmen."

Vijender also said that the new boxing president was elected fairly.

Vijender said,"I want to continue representing India in future but this news will affect morale of Indian boxers."

The Beijing Olympics bronze-medallist was, however, hopeful that the issue would be resolved soon.

"The next AIBA event is quite far but hopefully we would not sit on it for too long and get the suspension revoked as soon as possible," he said.

The President of the Indian boxing federation, Abhishek Matoria, also spoke to NDTV and was shocked to hear the decision.

He said,"I am completely shocked to hear the news. We had provided all the information that the international body needed but still they have gone on to suspend us."

When asked if this was a fall out of the IOA suspension, he said, "This is a situation for entire sports in India and not just boxing. This is a very big demotivation of all the boxers in India and without any reason."

The president also said that there is probably some connection between the IOC and the AIBA.


NDTV also asked if there were some notices given to the Indian boxing federation, to which he replied, "We were given notices from AIBA regarding elections but had replied promptly. We had also sent our delegates to Armenia in the youth championship to meet AIBA representatives."

He also lamented the fact that the International body did not get back to the Indian boxing federation and it was the sad part.

Matoria also said that he will talk to the former president, Chautala who himself is in trouble regarding the IOA, on the matter.

He said, "He (Chautala) is in trouble for the moment but since he has been the Boxing federation president for 12 years, I will speak to him regarding the connection between IOA and boxing. We will find a solution."

Matoria ended saying that he had also met the sports minister Jitendra Singh and the sports secretary PK Dev but did not get any notices from them too despite clearing their queries. He also assured that the players will not suffer due to this mess and that the federation will ensure that boxing goes on.


With the Asian Boxing Championship and the World Championships in Kazakhstan scheduled next year, the provisional ban now makes the future of Indian boxers participating in these events under the country's flag uncertain.


The world body took the decision at a meeting at Lausanne, in Switzerland two days after the IOC suspended the IOA, of whom Chautala, former president of IABF, was elected as president on Wednesday.



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Agencies
March 10,2020

Mumbai, Mar 10: The addition of two new members, including the chairman, in the national selection committee, has not changed the panel's stance on M S Dhoni, who will "have to perform" in the upcoming IPL to be considered for T20 World Cup selection, a top BCCI official told PTI.

The Sunil Joshi-led selection panel met for the first time in Ahmedabad on Sunday to pick a rather "straightforward" squad for the three ODIs against South Africa beginning in Dharamsala on March 12.

Fit-again Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Shikhar Dhawan made their way back into the side.

Joshi's predecessor MSK Prasad had made it clear that the team has moved on from Dhoni and he has to first play to be considered for selection.

Dhoni, who has not played since the World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand in July, will be making his highly-awaited comeback in the IPL beginning March 29.

"It was a pretty straightforward selection meeting and since Dhoni was obviously not in the reckoning this time (for South Africa series), there was no formal talk about his future," a BCCI source told PTI.

"He will be back in the reckoning only if he has a good IPL. And why only him, there are so many senior and young players who will play in the IPL. If they do well, they are ought to be considered too. So, you could see some surprise inclusions," he said.

The T20 World Cup will be played in Australia in October-November and the games India play after the IPL leading up to the mega event will also be a factor in the final squad selection.

"But the performance in the IPL could be the clincher," the source added.

Head coach Ravi Shastri too has hinted that Dhoni could be back after a good IPL but his future remains a subject of intense speculation as he has not played a game in more than seven months.

With his heir apparent Rishabh Pant not setting the world on fire and K L Rahul being groomed into a full-time wicketkeeper-batsman, Dhoni's comeback cannot be ruled out.

His countless fans will finally get to see him in action when he leads Chennai Super Kings against defending champions Mumbai Indians in the IPL opener at Wankhede Stadium on March 29.

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News Network
April 2,2020

New Delhi, Apr 2: It was on April 2, 2011, when the Men in Blue went on to win their second 50-over World Cup title.

India won its first World Cup in 1983 and then had to wait for 28 years to again lift the title.
Going into the 2011 tournament, India went in as the clear favourites as the competition was to be played in the sub-continent.

Under MS Dhoni's leadership, India lost just one match in the competition against South Africa.
India had defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in the semi-final to set up a summit clash with Sri Lanka.

In the finals, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first. Mahela Jayawardene top-scored for Sri Lanka as he struck a century to take the team's score to 274/6.

India in their chase got off to a bad start as the side lost Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag with just 31 runs on the board.

But Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni stepped up and stitched a match-winning 109-run partnership.

Gambhir perished after playing a knock of 97 runs, but in the end, Dhoni and Yuvraj took the team over the line by six wickets.

The winning six struck by Dhoni is still viewed as one of the most exciting moments in India's sporting history. 

As the winning six was hit, Ravi Shastri was doing commentary then, and he famously remarked, "Dhoni, finishes it off in style, India lifts the World Cup after 28 years".
As soon as the match-winning shot was hit, Tendulkar erupted with joy and had tears to see his dream finally being fulfilled.

Earlier this year, former Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar's famous lap around the Wankhede Stadium after the 2011 World Cup win, titled 'Carried On the Shoulders Of A Nation', was voted the greatest Laureus Sporting Moment of the last twenty years.

The lap after the World Cup is still edged into everyone's hearts.

Playing in his last mega 50-over tournament, it was the last chance for Tendulkar to lift the coveted trophy.

Before the 2011 World Cup, Tendulkar had played five tournaments (1992,1996,1999,2003 and 2007), and he fell short every time.

The closest he came to winning the trophy was in 2003 as India made the finals under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly.

But the Men in Blue fell short in the finals against Australia.

Then in 2007, the biggest setback was in store for the legend has India bowed out of the tournament in the group stages.

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Agencies
August 5,2020

New Delhi, Aug 5: Indian cricketers Suresh Raina and Harmanpreet Kaur were on Wednesday appointed as the global brand ambassadors of the WTF Sports.

Raina is also joining the brand as a Strategic Partner. WTF Sports, a fantasy sports gaming platform, was today formally launched in India and globally.

The announcement was made through a web conference with prominent cricket host, Vikram Sathaye moderating and hosting the webinar and Vinit Bhatia, Manit Parikh and Yash Kadakia Co-Founders - India and Global, WTF Sports introducing the cricketers as the Global Brand Ambassadors.

Kaur said it was a perfect fit for her and she can use her strategy and experience while playing.
"WTF Sports was the perfect fit with me, I can use strategy and my experience while playing, I've actually learnt to strategize better as I've played along. Additionally, when we were under lockdown and I couldn't really practice, it was fun to come on the platform and feel like I'm still playing," Kaur said in a statement.

On the other hand, Raina said, "It is exciting to be a part of a fantasy sports platform like WTF Sports not just as an ambassador but also as the strategic partner, it is everything that I embody and what I believe in, it's fierce, fun and competitive."

The app currently hosts three major sports, multiple playing modes, and exciting contests, ensuring that sports fans can get more skillful by letting them strategize and use their sports knowledge into rewarding behaviour.

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