'Our selection policy is fair and transparent'- Boxing Federation of India

In a reply to the petition questioning the selection policy for Asian Games, the Boxing Federation of India told Punjab and Haryana High Court that its selection policy was fair and transparent on Monday.

The petition was filed by boxers world championship silver medalist Amit Panghal, Rohit Mor, and Commonwealth medalist Sagar Ahlawat after they were left out of the Indian squad for the Asian Games to be held from September 23 to October 8 in China.

"The selection process adopted by BFI is fair and transparent and is based upon the assessment of various parameters. Due to the various parameters laid down for the selection of the athlete, there is zero chance of biases," the BFI said in its reply.

The federation also added that the new selection criteria formulated in February were similar to the policy adopted by many leading boxing nations of the world.

BFI formulated and implemented new selection criteria under the guidance of High-Performance Director Bernard Dunne. BFI contested that the efficiency of the criteria was proved at the recently held Women's and Men's Boxing World Championships.

At this year's World Championships, the women boxers won four gold while the male pugilists returned with a haul of three bronze medals.

The criteria were challenged during the Women's World championships by boxers such as Manju Rani but Delhi High Court refused to interfere with the selection criteria then.

The BFI further stated that the athletes were "given a comprehensive briefing regarding the selection/evaluation process by the High-Performance Unit which included High-Performance Directors, Coaches, and Sports Staff," adding that "none of the athletes raised any challenge to the selection criteria being adopted."

Deepak Bhoria (51kg), Sachin Siwach (57kg), and Narender Berwal (+92kg) have been selected ahead of Panghal, Mor, and Ahlawat respectively.