Trials date for boxers set and Ministry approves Prevention of Sporting Fraud Bill

Indian sports law update for this week centres around the April 22nd IPL corruption case hearing, the IOA ad-hoc committee’s commitment to Indian boxers participating in international competitions, and the recent approval of the ‘Prevention of Sporting Fraud Bill’.

The significant development in the IPL case hearing for this week was the Supreme Court rejecting the proposed BCCI probe committee due to a conflict of interest. It appears that the concerns surrounding the IPL- 6 fixing scandal played a part in the Home Ministry’s decision to approve the Sports Ministry’s draft ‘Prevention of Sporting Fraud Bill’, hoping to “cleanse” Indian sports.

Trial dates set for Indian amateur boxers 

According to a Times of India article, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) ¹ ad-hoc committee, formed to ensure that Indian boxers and coaches continue participating in international tournaments despite the Indian Amateur Boxing Federation’s (IABF’s) ² de-recognition, “decided to hold selection trials for the Commonwealth Games next month,”³ and trials for the Asian Games will take place in August.

The six-member panel, comprised of IOA vice-president, Tarlochan Singh, two sports administrators, Rakesh Gupta and Kuldip Vats, India’s International Boxing Association (AIBA) ⁴ representative, Kishan Narsi, as well as “national coach GS Sandhu and former boxer Mehtab Singh,” met last week to address various issues Indian boxers are currently encountering. 

Due to the de-recognition of Indian boxing, the boxers and coaches will be “competing under the International Boxing Association (AIBA) flag.” The Committee’s convener, Rakesh Gupta, explained: “[w]e have decided to select the Commonwealth Games core group of boxers in both the men's and women's category,” and continued, “[a]ll national medallists in 2012 and international medallists after that besides the current set of campers in Patiala will be eligible to participate.”⁵ The trials for July’s Commonwealth Games (CWG) are set to take place from May 7 to 11 in Patiala, and the final selection will be from May 20 to 23.