Boxer Vikas Let Off With Warning For Asian C’ships Forfeiture

Vikas Krishan has been let off with a warning for forfeiting his Asian C’ships semi-final bout earlier this year.

File photo of Vikas Krishan Yadav.

(Photo: AP) 

World Championships-bound Indian boxer Vikas Krishan Yadav has been let off with a warning for forfeiting his Asian Championships semi-final bout earlier this year, marking an end to the disciplinary inquiry against him.

The middleweight (75kg) boxer, who was the top seed in the Asian meet in Tashkent, had given a walkover to Korean Lee Dongyun in the semi-final during the 30 April to 7 May event.

The 25-year-old, a former World Championships bronze- medallist, is currently in Hamburg, Germany with the eight-member Indian team which will compete in the upcoming edition of the mega-event, starting 25 August.

He has been given a warning for what happened and the matter is now closed. The disciplinary panel spoke to him and we came to the conclusion that a warning would suffice.

Boxing Federation of India Official

The boxer, who had a World Series of Boxing (WSB) bout on 11 May in Paris, had claimed that he got caught up in a confusion over his travel plans, which led to him forfeiting the Asian Championship bout.

Subsequently, the BFI denied him permission to compete in the WSB bout as well.

The BFI then constituted a three-member disciplinary committee to conduct an inquiry into the matter.

The committee, headed by veteran administrator Asit Banerjee and comprising Rajesh Bhandari and Nirwan Mukherjee, met Vikas and the coaches who had travelled with the Indian team in Tashkent and some BFI officials before submitting its report in July.

It is learnt, the disciplinary panel did not squarely blame Vikas for the fiasco and pointed out "lack of communication" between him and officials as the reason for the "confusion" that led to the forfeiture.

The Haryana-boxer is among the most decorated boxers in India. A two-time Olympian, he became the first Indian to be adjudged the best boxer by the International Boxing Association (AIBA) at its annual gala last year.

He is also an Asian Games gold-medallist besides being a former world youth champion.

(With inputs from Reuters)