Boxers, officials at Nationals left out in cold as accommodation not booked for the whole tournament

Boxers, coaches and support staff of multiple teams were left out in the cold on Friday night as they were asked to vacate their accommodation after returning from the penultimate day of the Elite National Boxing Championships here.

Several teams reported that their bags were put outside their rooms and they were asked to vacate their accommodation at the hostels and lodges they were put up at as they had been booked till Friday only.

It left the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) in an embarrassing situation. When The Indian Express tried to reach BFI officials, they were unreachable but later on, an official statement said that some remedial measures had been taken, without specifying what caused the problem.

“Immediate steps have been taken to ensure that the affected athletes have been accommodated at the nearest facility at GB University, where suitable sleeping arrangements have been made for the night. The Federation is closely monitoring the situation,” the statement said.

However, the solution arrived after many contingents had to spend several hours in the bitter cold on an evening when temperatures hovered around 6-7 degree Celsius. Some teams hadn’t got accommodation by the time of going to print.

The participating teams at the Nationals, taking place at Gautam Buddha University in Greater Noida, had been lodged at various hostels and lodges but found themselves looking for other options after returning from the tournament venue in the evening.

Telangana, Kerala, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh were some of the teams that faced the accommodation problem.

“This happened around 7:30 pm when we returned from the boxing venue. Our players, along with coaches, were asked to vacate the premises saying it was booked only till today,” a coach told The Indian Express on condition of anonymity. “We are still standing outside the hostel and haven’t got any alternative for our stay.”

The accommodation was the last thing boxers, coaches and officials expected after a hectic day of action with 40 semifinal bouts held on the day.

“We have a boxer playing in the final tomorrow. This is a situation where we don’t know what to do. We got a little late as we were having dinner. This is not an isolated incident, we faced something similar last night around 8 pm,” another coach said.

The anger was palpable among the teams and officials when they found that their accommodation was not booked for the whole duration of the tournament.

“What can we do at the moment? It is the basic duty of the organisers to book the accommodation for the traveling teams for the whole duration of the event. More than anything, we are worried about the boxers who are distressed in this situation,” a team official said.

The prospectus of the Boxing Nationals says, ‘Free Lodging & Boarding will be provided to boxers and officials by the organisers.’

The Boxing Nationals were earlier scheduled from December 30 to January 7 but were moved to January 4-10 due to poor air quality in the National Capital Region. They have been marred by other controversies as well with the first day of the event witnessing a delay of more than five hours due to logistical issues. There have also been allegations of biased refereeing.