The Sports Ministry on Monday asked the newly formed Boxing India (BI) to work towards revocation of provisional suspension imposed by AIBA on Sarita Devi and three ringside coaches by helping them in filing their replies to the world body.
Along with Sarita, three ringside coaches — Gurbakhsh Singh Sandhu, Blas Iglesias Fernandez and Sagar Mal Dhayal — were also provisionally suspended from taking part at all levels of competitions and meetings until further notice.
AIBA’s strict view of her protest on the podium prompted the Sports Ministry, Sports Authority of India (SAI), Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and BI to hold a meeting on Monday to chart out a future course of action.
The meeting was attended by Sports Secretary Ajit Sharan, IOA President N Ramachandran and Secretary General Rajeev Mehta, AIBA representative from India Kishen Narsi, Sandhu and Sandeep Jajodia, the president of BI which is yet to get recognition from the government, as well as the IOA.
At the meeting, Sports Secretary Sharan asked the BI to prepare the replies of the boxer and the coaches and ensure that the provisional suspension on them were revoked at the earliest. “The Sports Secretary took stock of the situation. He asked BI to prepare the replies of Sarita Devi and the coaches to present a collective stand before the AIBA. The sports secretary has assured all necessary help to Sarita and the coaches to ensure that the ban is revoked at the earliest,” SAI Executive Director (Teams) Sudhir Setia said at a media briefing.
“This reply will be ready and filed by tonight. The main aim of this entire exercise is to persuade AIBA to revoke the ban on the player and the coaches.”Setia also said that Sarita and the coaches would not be filing for appeals to AIBA but sending their replies to the letter of provisional suspension sent to them. “It can’t be an appeal as the suspensions are yet to be ratified,” he said.
Asked if the government would advise going to Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) if the AIBA refuses to hear India’s plea for reconsideration, Setia said, “It is pre-mature to think about CAS. What we are doing is the logical first step.”Jajodia said it was indeed disrespectful to refuse to accept the medal but the situation got the better of Sarita and AIBA should consider it an emotional outburst of an athelte. “It was purely an emotional reaction and not pre-planned.
“We don’t deny that it was disrespectful toward the code of conduct for athletes but she tendered an unconditional apology.”“Sarita is a senior boxer and does not have a history of such offences. Also, it was a one-off incident and we must look at it from a human perspective. They (AIBA) have sought a clarification, which is being sent today,” Jajodia said.