SAI sets up probe committee as 3 boxers leave NIS after flouting rules

Boxers Vikas Krishan and Satish Kumar, who have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, and pro boxer Neeraj Goyat were found mingling with other campers after they tested negative for COVID-19 following their arrival at the campus.

New Delhi: The Sports Authority of India on Saturday said it has instituted an inquiry to investigate "the circumstances leading to the alleged incident of athletes flouting the quarantine rule" at the National Institute of Sport (NIS) in Patiala. Furthermore, it said that the individuals who have violated the rules left the NIS campus on Saturday morning.

Boxers Vikas Krishan and Satish Kumar, who have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, and pro boxer Neeraj Goyat were found mingling with other campers after they tested negative for COVID-19 following their arrival at the campus. This was a violation of the quarantine rule for the facility.

Sports Authority of India

"A committee constituted under the Chairmanship of Secretary, SAI, will probe the matter and suitable action will be taken if any personnel(s)/athlete(s) are found culpable of any wrongdoing," said SAI in its statement.

Boxer Vikas Krishan

"Meanwhile, the three players who have been alleged to flout the rules, have left NIS Patiala on the morning of 11 July 2020."

SAI has taken up the task of organising national camps due to the Sports Ministry derecognising the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) along with 56 other National Sports Federations due to a Delhi High Court order in June. Men's boxing high-performance director Santiago Nieva had said that the national camp for the boxers would start on August 1.

Satish Kumar

Since India announced the lockdown on March 25, boxers have been stuck at home or SAI centre. They didn't have sparring seasons. Though SAI issued Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to resume training of non-contact sports, boxing is yet to start. Earlier BFI said that it will resume training of boxers in August.