Mary Kom quits boxing national observer post
Mary Kom has resigned from her post of the national observer for Indian boxing after sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore clarified that active sportspersons weren't eligible for the post. She stated that she was never interested in the job but had taken it upon the insistence of the Ministry.
Critics had written Mary Kom off as a competition after she failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics, but the 34-year-old has rightly proved that she still has enough boxing left in her when she won the gold medal in the Asian Boxing Championship last month. However, her comeback seems to have cost her the position of the national observer for Indian boxing after Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore cleared a few days back that players who are active in their sports can't be considered for the position.
"I resigned as national observer 10 days ago after having a word with
"I had inquired about the rule on not having active athletes as observers with the then Sports Secretary Injeti Srinivas when it was offered to me," she explained, reacting to the insinuation that her appointment smacked of conflict of interest given that she is still an active national camper.
"But at that time, I was told that I should nonetheless accept the position. I did so on the insistence of the Ministry and I don't want unnecessary controversies about something that I had not asked for."
Ex Sports Minister Vijay Goel had appointed 12 national observers in March 2017 in which Kom's name was included. The list also saw Olympic gold-medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra, double Olympic-medallist Sushil Kumar and former Commonwealth Games gold medallist Akhil Kumar among others. In this list, Sushil and Mary Kom are still active in their respective sports.
"I was never interested in this but accepted the position because I had been requested. I have my hands full with a lot of things. I am happy to let it go and have no complaints," said Mary Kom.
The Arjuna awardee boxer is also a Rajya Sabha MP and is in contention for the Commonwealth and Asian Games next year.
