BFI reverts to trial-based system — How will Indian boxers get selected for CWG, Asian Games?

The boxing selection camp for the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games will resume on Wednesday after the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) reverted to the trial-based system following Sport Authority of India’s directive to make its assessment process fair and transparent.

In its revised evaluation procedure, the Boxing Federation of India has scrapped the earlier marking-based assessment system that had come under scrutiny after SAI received complaints from several boxers.

Under the new selection system, a five-member panel comprising the head coach and four judges will evaluate the bouts, with results to be declared immediately after the contests.

“This is to notify that the selection of boxers for the CWG, Asian Games, and other international competitions shall be conducted from 13th May to 15th May 2026 of the Ongoing Elite National Campers at NS NIS Patiala,” BFI said in a notification on Tuesday.

“A revised evaluation system based on sparring performance shall be adopted in place of the existing assessment methodology.

“The scores obtained earlier in the Sports Science Tests, Weight Management, Health Management, and Attendance shall stand withdrawn and shall be treated as null and void,” it added.

The federation’s earlier two-part evaluation process, which began on May 6, was suspended by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Sunday after multiple complaints were received from boxers regarding the proposed format.

The second phase of the assessment, involving sparring sessions, was scheduled to begin on Monday before the suspension.

The assessment-based selection process has long remained under scrutiny, with several boxers raising concerns over alleged bias and lack of transparency.

On Monday, women’s head coach Santiago Nieva and men’s head coach CA Kuttappa had met with SAI officials to discussing the issue.

The Sports Ministry has also issued a showcause notice to the BFI for its “ambiguous” selection policy that “does not appear to be transparent” and failure to make critical appointments like the High Performance Director despite reminders.

The CWG is due to be held in July-August in Glasgow, followed by the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan in September-October.

So far, Sachin Siwach (60kg) among men, and Preeti Pawar (54kg), and Priya Ghanghas (60kg) among women have qualified for both the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games by reaching the finals of the Asian Championships held last month in Mongolia.

Jaismine Lamboria (57kg), and Arundhati Chaudhary (70kg) have secured slots for only the Commonwealth Games on the back of similar results as their weight categories do not feature in the Asian Games.

Published on May 12, 2026