Selection policy 'fair and transparent', says BFI in reply in High Court on boxers' petition

The Boxing Federation of India on Monday told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that its selection policy was totally “fair and transparent”, responding to a petition filed by three boxers, including Amit Panghal, over their non-selection for the upcoming Asian Games.

The national federation added that the new selection criteria formulated in February, were “akin to the policy adopted by many leading boxing nations of the world”.

“The selection process adopted by BFI is totally fair and transparent and is based upon the assessment of various parameters. Due to the various parameters laid down for the selection of the athlete there is zero chance of biasness,” the BFI said in its reply.

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World Championships silver medallist Panghal, Rohit Mor and Commonwealth Games silver winner Sagar Ahlawat had moved the high court against the BFI after they were left out of the Indian squad for the Asian Games to be held from September 23 to October 8 in China.

They had petitioned against BFI’s evaluation process for the selection of the Hangzhou Asian Games squad.

The BFI said the new selection criteria were formulated and approved as per the 2011 Sports Code and they “proved its efficiency in the recently held World Championships”.

At this year’s World Championships, the women boxers won four gold while the male pugilists returned with a haul of three bronze medals.

The BFI further stated that the athletes were “given a comprehensive briefing regarding the selection/evaluation process by the High Performance Unit which included High Performance Directors, Coaches and Sports Staff,” adding that “none of the athletes raised any challenge to the selection criteria being adopted.”

“Even the petitioners have participated in the selection criteria without raising any challenge to it and now they have challenged the selection criteria which is not permissible at this stage.”

Names of Indian boxers selected by BFI to represent India at the Asian Games have already been sent by Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to the Organizing Committee of Hangzhou Asian Games, the last date for which was July 15.

Deepak Bhoria (51kg), Sachin Siwach (57kg) and Narender Berwal (+92kg) have been selected ahead of Panghal, Mor and Ahlawat respectively.