Sarita Devi cries foul over Asiad boxing trials

Top woman boxer L Sarita Devi has threatened to return the Arjuna award she was conferred last year and quit representing the country if the "injustice" of dropping her from the Asian Games squad is not looked into by the sports minister.

Sarita, who was beaten by five-time World champion and Manipuri teammate M C Mary Kom at a trial in Delhi on September 22, claims she had already been selected after the first trial at Bhopal last month.

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Sarita, the reigning Asian champion in the 51kg category, is still among the reserves for the Games, in China this November.

She has now demanded intervention by the sports minister, the resignation of the Indian Boxing Federation's general secretary and another round of trial.

"The sports minister must intervene into the matter immediately and solve the issue. Until and unless these demands are being fulfilled I will not play for India and I shall also return the Arjuna award that was awarded to me in 2009," she said.

"The IBF general secretary must apologize for indulging in favoritism in the selection process, which is against the ethics of sportsmanship. He must resign on moral and disciplinary ground," she added.

A former World champion, she claimed she was already selected for the Asian Games at after the Bhopal trial last month but had to go through another trial without any reason.

"The selection trial for the Indian women's boxing team to take part in the Asian Games was held at Bhopal for two days on 20 and 21 August. The selection committee had announced the selected names in which I was included in the 51kg category with two other women players in the 60 and 75 kg categories. It was published in the newspaper Hindustan (Hindi) on 10 September," a statement from her read.

"But, unfortunately, Indian Boxing Federation tried to keep it confidential and delayed an announcement. Surprisingly, the federation decided to hold the trial again without giving any specific reason. The retrial was fixed for 22nd September. I took part in the trial held at Talkatora Stadium. Despite my good performance in the trial my name has been omitted deliberately -- by the IBF. This is an injustice," she added.

Sarita said the Indian Boxing Federation has been converted into "a den of conspirators and corruption by few selfish officials".

"It is indeed shocking that few corrupt officials for their selfish interest had rendered Indian Boxing Federation into a matter of controversy. This is an ugly trend that must be addressed adequately at the earliest so as to prevent sports loving persons from becoming disillusioned about Indian sports," Sarita said.

"Despite my wholehearted dedication and contribution to Indian boxing, bypassing good performance and professionalism, injustice has been done to me by the selfish clique in IBF whose ambition is to tarnish the image of the Federation. This is being evident in the repeated trial processes where they have conspired against me," she said.

Threatening to return the Arjuna award, Sarita said she should be allowed for a retrial in front of the media within a week.