Ajay Singh re-elected Boxing Federation of India President for third straight term

Incumbent Ajay Singh was on Thursday (August 21, 2025) re-elected President of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) for a third consecutive term after a comprehensive victory over Olympian Jaslal Pradhan, even as the Sports Ministry and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) chose not to send observers for the long-delayed polls.

The elections were postponed by over six months due to legal wrangling.

Singh, who is also the managing director of SpiceJet Airlines, won the contest 40-26 against 1982 Asian Games bronze medallist boxer Pradhan, who had the backing of the rival faction after former sports minister Anurag Thakur’s inclusion in the electoral college was rejected.

“I’m just happy that we get to continue the good work that the BFI has been doing for the past eight years,” Singh told PTI after his victory.

“As you know, India’s rank in the world has gone up from number 44 eight years ago to rank four. That gives us immense satisfaction… that Indian boxers are now getting the opportunity to box in international championships and that they win so many medals and India gets to shine on the world stage.

“We want to continue that work and ensure that our boxers get many more opportunities and get to bring Olympic medals for the country,” he added.

Singh will be joined by new secretary general Pramod Kumar of Uttar Pradesh, who edged out former BFI treasurer Digvijay Singh of Madhya Pradesh 36–30.

Kumar succeeds Assam’s Hemanta Kalita, who was ineligible to contest after completing two consecutive four-year terms and is now serving a mandatory cooling-off period.

The treasurer’s position saw a three-way fight and Tamil Nadu’s Pon Baskaran secured the post with 28 votes, defeating Anil Kumar Bohidar and R. Gopu.

No observer from ministry, IOA; World Boxing chief also skips polls

The polls were conducted in the presence of Returning Officer Justice (retd) Rajesh Tandon and BFI interim committee head Fairuz Mohammed of Singapore, deputed by World Boxing as its observer.

World Boxing President Boris van der Vorst and Secretary General Mike McAtee, originally scheduled to attend as observers, were also not present.

“Boris was unable to come yesterday, which was the plan. He will be travelling to India in the next few days to finalise the venue for the World Boxing Cup in November,” Singh said.

The Sports Ministry and the IOA did not send observers, a move that drew objections from the rival faction led by Himachal Pradesh unit chief Rajesh Bhandari.

“We wrote to them but they declined without giving any reason,” Singh said.

It is understood that the Ministry is adopting a wait and watch approach until the court delivers its verdict.

“We have already told the Delhi High Court that we do not think that the procedure followed in the conduct of these elections is right. We will wait now and see what the court says,” a Ministry source said.

The results of the polls remain subject to the final verdict of an ongoing case in the Delhi High Court, where several state units have challenged the constitutional amendments introduced by the interim committee that had been overseeing BFI’s daily affairs.

The High Court has set September 23 as the next date of hearing.

“Of course the matter is going on in the court and the court had said in its last hearing that they wanted the elections to go on.

“They also made the result of the elections subject to the final outcome of the case which is what happens every time a legal matter is filed in an election. So all of us will abide by the law of the land,” Singh said.

Singh, who was first elected to office in 2016, said his priority would be to focus on grassroots development.

“My foremost commitment is to ensure that every ounce of energy now goes into strengthening grassroots programs, empowering our junior and youth athletes, and building on India’s growing stature in world boxing.” The elections were initially scheduled for March 28 but were repeatedly stalled due to a series of petitions, appeals and counter-appeals.