BFI might overhaul coaching staff after world championships

A total of nine boxers, including five men and four women, qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, with medal prospects also in the fray. However, contrary to the expectations, only Lovlina Borhgohain returned with a bronze, while the rest failed to finish on the podium, including World no.1 Amit Panghal.

As per the BFI (Boxing Federation of India), they are ‘dissatisfied’ with the Tokyo performance and the coaching staff could be completely overhauled after the world championships for men and women, later this year. The fleet comprises two high-performance coaches – Santiago Nieva (Men), Raffaele Bergamasco, along with national head coaches C A Kuttappa (men) and Mohammed Ali Qamar (women).

In fact, the contract for the coaches expired when the Tokyo Olympics ended, but the national sports federation decided to hand them a contract extension of three months before taking any final decision.

"Nobody (in the federation) is happy with the Olympic performance. So, as was promised, a review is on and it will be a long drawn process, which will take a couple of months. Nothing is changing till the two world championships are done with. Who knows, there could be a complete overhaul after that but we will have to wait and watch for two-three months,” a top source, said to PTI.

The men’s world championships will begin on October 26, in Serbia, while the women’s event will be held in December. In spite of the extension, the BFI has started looking out for prospective candidates for the future, with Cuban coach BI Fernandez the frontrunner so far.