NEW DELHI: The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) was confirmed as the official governing body of boxing in the country by the Delhi High Court on Thursday.
Earlier, the BFI had filed a petition against its rivals, the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) over its organising of the sub-junior inter-zonal boxing championships across the country.
In a major win for BFI, the court not only upheld its status as the sport’s authority, but also ordered that the IABF must not words like ‘India’ or ‘Indian’ in its official name.
“The court order further consolidates BFI’s status after it earned formal recognition from the AIBA, Sports Ministry and IOA in 2017. The BFI has worked tirelessly since in a bid to make India a boxing powerhouse,” the BFI said in an official statement.
“With Ajay Singh as the president, the BFI has restructured the domestic system, resulting in a steady flow of talent which has led to an increase of medals from elite international competitions in the last couple of years and have brought marquee World Boxing events to India for the first time since 2017.”
The AIBA, the world governing body of boxing and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had de-recognised the IABF for ‘flawed and faulty elections’ in 2014.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had granted the BFI official status in March 2017. Seven months later, the AIBA had taken the IOA’s stance in this regard, derailing IABF’s comeback.
