10 Mar Boxing Federation of India and AIBA successfully wraps up the 2017 Commission Meetings

India to host major international championships in 2017

AIBA, BFI and SAI signed an MoU to set up an International Boxing Academy

New Delhi, March 1, 2017: The India Boxing Federation welcomed a delegation of over 100 AIBA Commission members to New Delhi for two days of meetings from 27-28 February, during which their recommendations for the Tokyo 2020 road-map were finalised and shared.

Decades of collective expertise across all areas of boxing convened in New Delhi as the AIBA Commissions continued to plan key developments for the sport. With the focus placed firmly on optimising the structure of the Tokyo 2020 boxing competition, the meetings built on the first reforms of the new Olympic Cycle initiated at the end of 2016, when the R&J and T&R Commissions tabled their recommendations for changes to R&J operations and an improved Calendar.

With those key structural reforms already trialled and approved, discussions in New Delhi centred around an expansion in the number of women’s boxing weight categories at Tokyo in line with the IOC’s gender equality priority set out in its Agenda 2020, with further input from the Medical Commission regarding ongoing research into headguard removal in line with elite men’s competitions. Education programmes continued to receive wide cross-Commission involvement, with ethics and values high on the agenda alongside the Year of Africa Legacy Project with the input of AFBC President Mr Kelani Bayor. 

“The Commission meetings in New Delhi leave us in no doubt that over the next Olympic Cycle, AIBA will be putting the elements into place for the strongest Olympic Boxing competition we have seen in terms of organisation, the scope of participation and performance of officials. It was always our intention to empower the expertise on our Commissions to take the lead on these discussions, and having identified their key benchmarks in the lead-in to Tokyo 2020, AIBA can now prioritise and action them throughout the current cycle,” said AIBA President Dr Ching-Kuo Wu.  

“AIBA is very pleased with the people in India who have elected such a committed and thought leader for BFI, Mr. Singh. I am sure his enthusiasm and the vibes of his commitment for the sport will soon help India revive their involvement in international boxing arena and we will together work on achieving the same,” added Dr. Wu.

Speaking at the occasion, BFI President Mr. Ajay Singh said, “ I am thankful to AIBA for giving us an opportunity to host Dr. Wu and the complete AIBA family in India. It was an honour to showcase India to the world. I am also delighted that AIBA recognises the efforts being put in by BFI towards the development of boxing as a whole. BFI would be willing to be rightly integrated with AIBA community to further fulfil our mission of making India a dominant power in the world of boxing. Within four months of our operations, BFI has successfully conducted nationals for seniors and youth boxers, 5 international tournaments including one World Championship wherein India returned with great laurels. The federation also organised major certification courses by AIBA for the first time in India for Coaches and RJs.”

Ajay Singh also remarked the AIBA Commission meeting as a marquee event for a strong association with AIBA community and on the lines of the same expressed his key interest in hosting world championships in India. “India will be part of next World Series Boxing competition that also acts as an Olympic qualifier for boxers. We would also be hosting one major international championship every year starting 2017.  Hosting such championships will further strengthen our participation on global stage and help us in popularising the sport of boxing in India. BFI will also begin Indian Boxing League this year that will help towards the growth of the sport in the country and will provide boxers with a financial benefit along with great amount of exposure.”

Youth National Champion Sachin Siwach who also shared the stage with Dr. Wu and Mr. Singh thanked the boxing fraternity for their tremendous efforts to develop the sport. “I am thankful to the federation and AIBA for making me part of this event. Indian boxing saw some unfortunate years in the past but now with the new federation in place, boxing is seeing a change of phase and but now with new federation in India I am sure India will have more boxers representing their country and making boxing community proud by winning medals at 2020 Tokyo Olympics. 

Post the conference, #HeadsUp! , a global program developed by AIBA to promote the values of boxing and the global AIBA family was conducted at the Indira Gandhi Stadium. The objective is to foster AIBA initiatives to promote the development and growth of boxing at a national and international level.  As part of the program AIBA family distributed boxing gears to the budding pugilists that come from the lower strata of community. 

On the sidelines of the event, a major step was taken to further advance the training program for boxers. Boxing Federation of India, International Boxing Association (AIBA) and Sports Authority of India today signed a MoU to set up an International Boxing Academy in India with 8 regional centres. The agreement was signed at the office of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi in the presence of Sh. Injeti Srinivas, Secretary Sports, Govt of India. The signing authorities included Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu, President AIBA, Mr. Ajay Singh, President BFI and Shri Roque Dias, Executive Director (Special Projects), Sports Authority of India. 

This is a a remarkable step taken towards the development of world class infrastructure and an ideal platform for talent identification. Speaking at the signing of the MoU, Sh. Injeti Srinivas, Secretary Sports, Govt of India said, “Sports Authority of India is delighted to be part this endeavour wherein BFI gets an international recognition from AIBA for setting up a world class academy with regional centres for the development of boxing .This will go a long way in talent identification and help promote the sport of boxing in the country. Sports Authority of India is happy to be associated with this venture and will provide full support to set up the infrastructure.”

Boxing Federation will perform the day to day functioning of the academy while Sports Authority of India will build the state of the art facility.  AIBA will extend its support in terms of providing their vast knowledge and expertise in training methodology and technical know how.

Highlights from AIBA Commission Meetings:

 Athletes and Youth Commission
The creation of improved communication channels to give boxers a voice in the development of their sport will be prioritised, along with education of the athletes regarding adherence to the AIBA Code of Ethics.

 

Coaches Commission
Through the development of an entry-level E-learning platform, the commission will open channels for aspiring coaches to learn the basics of the profession, in conjunction with an expansion in the number of courses for more experienced coaches around the world.

 

Disciplinary Commission
The commission will be reinforcing and disseminating the AIBA Rules and Codes among all AIBA members in 2017, using the HeadsUp educational platform to provide greater awareness of possible sanctions and penalties for violations.

 

Marketing Commission

The commission will use 2017 to develop the AIBA brand, enhancing the recognition of the organisation’sformative role in the careers of the world’s greatest boxers to harness new markets and expand AIBA’spartnerships with global broadcasters.

 

Medical Commission
AIBA’s continued cooperation with WADA to keep boxing free of doping will be enhanced through the creation of a medical database, including updated lists of banned substances to help ensure boxers, coaches and NFs have the latest information available to them.

 

Referees and Judges Commission
As well as publishing a revised R&J manual for all officials, the commission will embrace technology with the creation of an e-learning platform to help build the R&J community in less accessible NFs, as well as expanding the pool of officials at all levels by increasing the numbers of instructors and courses worldwide.

 

Technical and Rules Commission

The recommendation to broaden out the women’s Olympic boxing tournament to include the 57kg and 69kg weight categories is a T&R priority for the Tokyo 2020 cycle, alongside the creation of a stable qualification pathway to help NFs in their preparations.

 

Women’s Commission
The increased participation of women in the Tokyo 2020 boxing competition, as well as across the commissions themselves, were identified as priorities, along with research into the redesign of women’s uniforms to better suit their needs.

 

WSB Commission

The World Series of Boxing competition will seek to restructure its ranking to provide a more engaging, effective system that can feed directly into Olympic qualification, as well as the creation of one-off opportunities for potential new franchises to test the format in a competitive environment.

 

AIBA underlines its support for the Boxing Federation of India

India was chosen as the venue for the 2017 Commissions Meetings in a signal of support for the new India Boxing Federation (BFI) administration under President Ajay Singh, elected in September of last year. India’s full membership of AIBA was unanimously reinstated at the Extraordinary Congress at the close of 2016, and following a highly successful and productive two days in Delhi, AIBA awaits the next phase of BFI growth as it looks to consolidate and develop the sport’s profile among its huge, young population to nurture a new generation of boxing champions.