New Delhi: Reigning national boxing medallists who were excluded from the national camp during the evaluation process last month have asked the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) to allow them to compete in the COAS Cup.
The tournament is a second pathway for boxers to be inducted into the camp before the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games this year.
The entry in the COAS Cup, to be held in Pune from March 31, though has been restricted for national medallists who went through the evaluation process in camp as BFI seeks to scout emerging talent. The finalists from COAS Cup will be inducted in the national camp.
In some Olympic weight categories there were six boxers in the camp and two got eliminated after the evaluation from February 18-27 to pick the team for the Asian Championships. It includes two-time Olympian and 2018 Asian Games gold medallist Amit Panghal (55kg) and Neeraj Phogat (65kg), who won bronze in the World Boxing Cup Finals. They were placed fifth and sixth and are no longer in the camp. The BFI circular says, “medallists of the 9th Elite Men and Women National Boxing Championship who were not part of the evaluation conducted from 18th to 27th February 2026 at the National Coaching Camp, Patiala, will be eligible to participate in the 2nd COAS Cup.”
Phogat has written to Sports Authority of India saying BFI’s clause renders her “ineligible to participate in the tournament despite being a national medallist.”
“This condition has effectively resulted in my exclusion from the competition. Being unable to participate in this tournament would theoretically end my prospects for the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games under the current BFI selection pathway, and it may also adversely affect my preparation and participation in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic cycle,” she said in the letter, a copy of which is with HT.
She appealed to SAI for its “intervention” in the issue to provide her a “fair opportunity” to compete.
Some of the other boxers affected by BFI’s rule are Ritu (65kg), Victor Shaikhom Singh (51kg), Muskan (57kg) and Bhupinder Singh (60kg).
BFI justified its stance. “At the start of the national camp, all boxers were briefed in detail about the pathway for review, selection and tournament participation. It was made clear that tournaments like COAS Cup are organised to identify and scout emerging talent from outside the national tournament ecosystem,” it told HT.
Another boxer who faces the axe said they knew they cannot participate in COAS Cup, but hoped BFI gives them another chance. “We have won medals in the national championships and deserve another chance.”
The finalists of the Asian Championships will get direct berths for the Asian Games and CWG. There will be ranking evaluation in the camp in May to select rest of the team for two majors.