Vikas let off with warning for Asian Championships forfeiture

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

Vikas Krishan, who had a World Series of Boxing (WSB) bout on May 11 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.

The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) was caught in a web of confusion over the reported ‘warning’ served to ace boxer Vikas Krishan Yadav for skipping a semifinal bout in the Tashkent Asian championship in May.

The BFI had set up an enquiry committee to look into the reasons that prompted Vikas, a former World championship bronze medallist and two-time Asian Games medallist, to forfeit his 75kg semifinal bout against Korean boxer Lee Dong-Jin.

The enquiry committee, comprising seasoned BFI members Asit Banerjee, Rajesh Bhandari and Nirwan Mukherjee, submitted its report on July 5.

A day after the Indian boxing team’s departure for the Hamburg World championship, the news of Vikas being served a warning came as a surprise.

Asked whether Vikas had been issued a ‘warning’, a BFI official said, ‘Yes.’ However, another well-placed person handling the BFI affairs said, “No report has been made public till now.” A query to BFI Secretary General Jay Kowli remained unanswered.

Notwithstanding whether the BFI has taken the final decision on Vikas, the enquiry panel has held the 25-year-old Haryana boxer 'guilty' for skipping the semifinal bout.

The panel said due to Vikas’ ‘non-participation’ in the semifinal and ‘negligence’ the overall grading of the Indian boxing team went down and it brought ‘disrespect’ to the country.

Even while taking note of the fact that Vikas, who landed a bronze medal by reaching the semifinal in Tashkent, was advised to sign an agreement to participate in the World Series of Boxing (which was scheduled close to the Asian championship), the committee said “that does not mean that he should have abdicated his duties and responsibilities in such a reckless manner without permission from superior authorities.”

The committee recommended that Vikas “deserves to be warned/cautioned to be more careful and disciplined in future.” It said if he repeated his mistake, he might be debarred from future competitions.

The panel also advised “better communication and transparency at all levels” of the BFI to prevent occurrence of such incidents in future.