Gurugram, Feb 2 : Elections for the posts of office-bearers of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) will be held here on Wednesday. The elections were to be conducted on November 18, but were postponed due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Current BFI president Ajay Singh, a businessman, was elected unanimously in the previous elections. But this time he faces a challenge from Ashish Shelar, politician-turned-sports administrator from Mumbai for the top post.
“Both groups — led by Singh and Shelar — are claiming to have the majority. Let’s see what happens tomorrow,” said one of the officials involved in the elections.
Besides the president’s post, there are two candidates each for the posts of secretary and treasurer.
Shelar had revealed his ‘agenda’ a few days ago, saying that if is voted to power he would get a main sponsor for the federation.
On the other hand, six-time women’s world champion MC Mary Kom threw her weight behind Singh on the eve of the election, saying he has done a “great job” for Indian boxing.
In the last four years, BFI has had a lot of support from the sports ministry in terms of international exposure and camps on foreign soil.
Boxing is one of the high profile Olympic disciplines and is on the priority list of the sports ministry.
For the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics nine Indian boxers, including four in women’s group have secured quota places. BFI is expecting more boxers to qualify from the next qualifying cycle.
Vijender Singh had claimed bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics while four years later Mary Kom won bronze at the 2012 London Games. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, however, boxers returned empty handed.
Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from IANS service.