The Boxing Federation of India have postponed their upcoming elections after a majority of member state associations wrote to Returning Officer, Justice Rajesh Tandon, requesting the same due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
A large number of voting members of BFI are above 60 years of age and are in the high-risk category. 23 state associations out of 32 wrote requesting postponement of elections.
Subsequently, the Returning Officer has written to BFI recommending that the elections be deferred. The Indian Olympic Association has also given their approval for the postponement.
The elections were scheduled to take place on December 18 during BFI’s Annual General Meeting in Gurugram after already being delayed due to the pandemic.
The BFI is currently led by Ajay Singh, owner of the airline company Spicejet. He took charge in 2016 following elections conducted under the supervision of the International Boxing Association.
Earlier, a senior sports administrator of another national sports federation, who had come to Delhi to participate in the federation electoral process, had contracted Covid-19 and later died.
After the postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee had also made it clear that it will adopt a flexible approach to the election cycles of National Olympic Committees so that member country’s athlete preparations are not hampered.