Indian boxing’s coaching staff could be “completely replaced” in the next three months, depending on how the world championships go, a national federation source told PTI, revealing that There is “dissatisfaction” with the performance of the Tokyo Olympics.
It is reliably learned that the two high performance directors Santiago Nieva (for the men) and Raphael Bergamasco (for the women) as well as the national head coaches CA Kuttappa (men) and Mohamed Ali Qamar (women) were intense at this point. are under investigation.
India had the largest boxing team ever to compete in the Games in July–August – five men and four women, of whom only Lovlina Borgohain could finish on the podium with a bronze medal.
This was the country’s first boxing medal at the Games in nine years, but more were expected given the boxing top performance.
“No one (in the federation) is happy with the Olympic performance. So, as promised, a review is on and it will be a long process, which will take a few months. Until the two world championships are completed, nothing is changing.
“Who knows, there may be a complete turnaround after that, but we will have to wait for two-three months and see if the coaching staff is ready to improve,” he said.
The men’s world championships will be held in Serbia from 26 October, while the women’s competition is to be held in December.
The Boxing Federation of India has given a three-month extension to Nieva and Bergamasco to ensure continuity for the two major events where the national champions will represent the country. His contracts were originally supposed to expire after the Tokyo Games.
The men’s national competition will begin on Wednesday in Bellary, Karnataka, while the women’s event will take place in mid-October.
Events are in line with BFI President Ajay SinghHe denied any feedback when during the Games, but promised reviews nonetheless.
No male boxer could make it to the medal round with Satish Kumar (+91kg), who entered the quarterfinals in Tokyo, earning praise for fighting a last-eight bout with 13 stitches to his face.
“A lot will depend on the World Championships, let’s see how they go,” the source said.
However, the BFI has started meeting some potential candidates and a standout name to gain audience with Singh is BI Fernandez of Cuba, who coached the men’s team for over a decade and won the Dronacharya Award in 2012. Became the first foreign recipient.
Fernandez, along with now-retired Gurbax Singh Sandhu, was at the helm of men’s boxing when India won its first Olympic medal in the sport in 2008.
“I have discussed with BFI for the role of women’s team and they have asked me to submit my action plan. I will do that in the next few weeks,” the 66-year-old, who is a coach at Mohali’s Punjab Sports University, told PTI.
A BFI source confirmed the development.
“He was brought here by some of our boxers and was asked to present his point of view, but this is all a part of the review which is going on. It will take some time for anything to happen,” he said.
Sweden-based Niva and Italian Bergamasco have both expressed their desire to stay in the past, but have also acknowledged the pressure they are under.
The 47-year-old Niva is a member of the International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) coach committee and the Asian Boxing Confederation’s (ASBC) coach committee vice-chairman.
Kuttappa, who has been a part of the national camp for a long time, took over as the men’s head coach in 2018, while Ali Qamar came on board a year later.
The BFI president, while supporting the boxers as well as the coaching staff in Tokyo, said that he would not ignore the unique results of the past four years, which included two medals for the first time at the men’s world championships and never before seen . in the Asian and Commonwealth Games.
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