Railways worried over boxers getting on pro track

Gagan K. Teja

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Tribune News Service

Patiala, June 19

As professional boxing gains ground in India and more and more amateurs turn pro, the issue of them getting permission from their employers could have serious implications in the coming days.

The Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) is concerned about its boxers turning professional without seeking a no-objection certificate (NOC), and is trying to assess how many of its boxers have turned pro.

RSPB has written to the general secretaries of all the zonal units and sports associations affiliated with it to provide it a list of all boxers, officials and employees who competed/officiated in professional boxing this year. Many of these boxers have competed in India and abroad without obtaining an NOC from RSPB.

RSPB joint secretary Bhaskar Roy Choudhury, in his letter, wrote: “Even though the players had competed in the professional boxing, the Board has not received any application from the boxers for granting of NOC, which was a serious issue on account of non-compliance of extant norms. Moreover, it has affected the monitoring of 330 special casual leaves.”

If RSPB takes action on this issue, apart from many national medallists, many international boxers too might be affected, including Dilbagh Singh, Neeraj Goyat, Siddharth Verma, Dilbagh Singh (junior), Mukesh and Sukhwinder.

When contacted, Choudhury said that RSPB wants to compile a list of all boxers who have competed in professional boxing this year. “Once the list is prepared, we will decide what to do next,” he added.

It is alleged that the boxers did not take the necessary permission to enter professional boxing; worse, a few of them even missed the Inter-Railways tournament because of the new professional league.

Meanwhile, Indian Boxing Council president PK Muralidharan Raja said that he had made it clear to the boxers who joined his flock that it was their own responsibility to get the necessary permissions from their employers.

“I had met the RSPB officials personally in this regard and they had told me that they would consider allowing their boxers to compete in the professional league,” he said. “But if they don’t, it is their loss, not ours. If the officials by any chance decide to take action against these boxers, soon there will be a day when no boxer would be interested in joining Railways since professional boxing is the next big thing. Moreover, even if they turn pro, they are promoting RSPB only and therefore, the officials should not create a fuss about it.”