By Gary Anderson

April 3 – IOA President N Ramachandran has announced an ad-hoc committee to run boxing in India ©Getty Images The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has formed a temporary committee which will run boxing in the country, as the sport continues its efforts to reorganise following the termination of the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) last month.

The announcement was made following the first meeting of the IOA Executive Council.

The IOA itself was only reinstated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in February after being suspended for 14 months following illegal elections.

It was welcomed back into the Olympic Movement after President of the World Squash Federation, N Ramachandran, was elected as its new head.

Ramachandran revealed the six-member ad-hoc committee will be in charge of appointing coaches and selecting boxers for upcoming international events including the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games which get underway in July.

It will be chaired by Tarlochan Singh and also includes national boxing coach G.S. Sandhu and India's representative at the International Boxing Federation (AIBA), Kishan Narsi.

"The committee has been approved by the AIBA and it will be handling all issues like coaching, selection, etc," said Ramachandran.

"Since we do not want the boxers to suffer we have formed this committee."

AIBA severed all ties with the IABF last month and has called on individuals within the boxing community to come forward and lead the sport into the future after a turbulent 18 months following the world governing body's decision to suspend the IABF, after its then chairman, Abhay Singh Chautala, was controversially elected President of the IOA.

AIBA has confirmed that it has received a number of proposals from a range of groups seeking to form a new boxing federation in India, including a faction led by former secretary general of the IABF, P K Muralidharan Rajawhich, which claims to have the backing of 23 of the 35 states and unions in India.

AIBA is continuing its search to find the right people to take Indian boxing into the future ©AFP/Getty ImagesAIBA is continuing its search to find the right people to take Indian boxing into the future ©AFP/Getty Images



No National Boxing Championships have taken place in India following the IABF's suspension in 2012, although coaches and boxers are allowed to compete in international competitions under the AIBA flag.

This was reinforced by an AIBA spokesman today, who told insidethegames that it welcomes the new temporary committee that has been set up while it assesses the validity of proposals from groups looking to form a new Indian boxing governing body.

"During the exclusion period, the Indian Olympic Association will act as AIBA counterpart and has formed an ad-hoc committee to do the work the national federation would do," said the spokesman.

"This Committee includes boxing experts [and] their decisions on selection will be accepted.

"AIBA has made it clear that boxers and coaches will remain protected and authorised to compete at any competition at all levels under the AIBA flag.

"AIBA has received several proposals from different groups but do not wish to communicate on any of those proposals at this stage and has set an extensive list of very strict criteria that will be used to evaluate all candidates.

"The AIBA Executive Committee will make a final decision and rehabilitate a national federation for boxing in India as soon as it deems that it has found the right group of people who will support the principles of AIBA in terms of ethics and fairness and who care primarily about the boxers and our beloved sport and not about their personal interests."

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