By Gary Anderson

AIBA has chosen Boxing India as the body to take boxing in India forward ©AFP/Getty ImagesThe International Boxing Association (AIBA) has today announced it has provisionally approved the application of Boxing India as the new governing body for the sport in the country.

The new body was accepted following a meeting of the AIBA Executive Committee and has been provisionally added as an AIBA member until it is officially ratified by the governing body's Congress.

AIBA President and International Olympic Committee (IOC) member C K Wu confirmed the decision in a letter to President of the India Olympic Association (IOA), Narayna Ramachandran.

"The new vision and the initiatives proposed by this organisation to revive the sport of boxing in the country in a professional and ethical manner have convinced AIBA that there would be no better organisation than Boxing India to represent our sport in India," wrote Wu.

AIBA has ordered Boxing India to hold a General Assembly as soon as possible to conduct elections and appoint a new Executive Board which will be approved by AIBA, after which it will then be permitted to govern the sport of boxing in India with full AIBA recognition.

Once Boxing India has been officially ratified, it will bring to an end a turbulent period in the history of boxing in India following the world governing body's decision to suspend the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) in December 2012, after its then chairman, Abhay Singh Chautala, was controversially elected President of the IOA.

Indian boxers may finally get the chance to take part in national championships again after being cancelled following the IABF's suspension by AIBA in December 2012 ©AFP/Getty ImagesIndian boxers may finally get the chance to take part in national championships again after being cancelled following the IABF's suspension by AIBA in December 2012 ©AFP/Getty Images





The IOA had already been suspended by the IOC for not holding their elections under the Olympic Charter, and was only reinstated in February this year.

In March, AIBA announced it had severed all ties with the IABF, which then effectively became non-existent, leading to the IOA setting up an ad-hoc committee to run boxing until a new governing body was formed.

AIBA had set up an Evaluation Committee to assess proposals from various factions within Indian boxing looking to take the sport forward and had called for "honest people" to come forward who would "support the principles of AIBA in terms of ethics and fairness".

Following the IABF suspension no national boxing championships have taken place in India, although coaches and boxers are allowed to compete in international competitions under the AIBA flag.

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