Paris Olympics: After boxer Parveen Hooda’s suspension, India to compete again for quota in 57kg, says BFI

The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) has announced that it will have another shot to qualify for the women’s 57kg weight category at the Paris Olympics after boxer Parveen Hooda’s suspension by the International Testing Agency.

Hooda, who won a quota for the Olympics with a bronze medal at the 2022 Asian Games, was suspended for 22 months by the ITA under whereabouts failure. In Hooda’s absence, India will only be allowed to field a boxer who had already registered as a reserve for the qualifiers before April 11, 2024. This allows only two boxers, named as reserves in the 60kg and 66 kg category, eligible to compete in Bangkok next week.

To open this pathway, the BFI said it had declined the quota spot won by Parveen in the 57kg category so that it becomes eligible to compete at the second World Olympic qualifier once again and strive to regain the spot.

“While it’s regrettable that Parveen won’t be able to compete for India and will be serving the suspension, I am happy that we were able to at least reduce the suspension period and she will be back in the ring soon. I also extend my gratitude to all who contributed to securing India’s continued representation in this weight category for the Paris Olympics,” stated BFI president Ajay Singh.

The BFI statement also said Hooda’s backdated sanction period by the ITA has been whittled down to 14 months, starting from May 17, 2024.

“We exhaustively pursued every avenue and explored all potential solutions to safeguard the Olympic quota and supported Praveen against potential suspension. Our proactive outreach to ITA and WADA emphasized the unintentional nature of the boxer’s actions, particularly given her father’s terminal illness,” said BFI Secretary General Hemanta Kalita.

“The failure arose on account of Ms. Hooda lacking the ability and technical know-how required for operating the Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS) platform, owing to which a gap arose in Ms. Hooda being able to fill her whereabouts information accurately and consistently. Ms. Hooda’s failure to comply in the present instance arose solely on account of her lack of knowledge and technical understanding of the ADAMS platform,” said Vidushpat Singhania, the boxer’s legal counsel.

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