Boxing federation suspends 5 refs,one judge

A day after the conclusion of the 57th Mens Senior National Boxing Championships,the Indian Boxing Federation (IBF) has suspended five referees and one judge for a year after reviewing their performance at the event....

A day after the conclusion of the 57th Mens Senior National Boxing Championships,the Indian Boxing Federation (IBF) has suspended five referees and one judge for a year after reviewing their performance at the event. The referees to be suspended are Rakesh Bhardwaj,Umesh Gupta,Ajay Negi,Panigrahi and Rajan Sharma while Dharamveer is the sole judge to face the IBFs wrath.

IBF general secretary PK Muralidaran Raja told The Sunday Express: The suspension of the five officials was on the basis of mistakes made by them throughout the competitions. It was decided by the IBF executive committee that action had to be taken against them.

Raja,however,denied that the allegations of biased judging following Railways boxer Sanjays controversial loss in the 52kg finals forced the federation to take this decision.

Raja also added that in order to improve the standard of officials,the IBF will start four-day workshops for referees and judges from September. Raja said that while one had to pass tests in order to become a judge or referee,there had to be some sort of refresher course to ensure they continue to perform at the top level. There would be three such workshops in a year. The officials would be divided in three grades and only those in the top category will qualify to stand in the National Championships. The officials in the later two categories would only get to be there at the Youth Nationals,inter-departmental and zonal championships.