Kiren Rijiju replies to Nikhat Zareen’s plea

New Delhi: Kiren Rijiju, the Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports on Friday replied to boxer Nikhat Zareen’s plea in which she sought a fair trial for Tokyo Olympics 2020 and said that the minister should not be involved in the selection of players by respective sports federations.
“I will surely convey to Boxing Federation to take the best decision keeping in mind the best interest of the NATION, SPORTS & ATHLETES. Although, Minister should not be involved in the selection of the players by the Sports Federations which are autonomous as per OLYMPIC CHARTER,” Rijiju tweeted.
I’ll surely convey to Boxing Federation to take the best decision keeping in mind the best interest of the NATION, SPORTS & ATHLETES. Although, Minister should not be involved in the selection of the players by the Sports Federations which are autonomous as per OLYMPIC CHARTER https://t.co/GqIBdtWRMp — Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) October 18, 2019 Zareen on Thursday had demanded a ‘fair chance’ to contest the qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics. In her letter, she said the Boxing Federation of India’s rule of exempting gold and silver medallists from the World Cup was being changed to accommodate pugilist Mary Kom who won a bronze in the tournament.
The 23-year-old said if 23-time gold medallist Michael Phelps had to requalify every time for the Olympics, then rest of the sportspersons must do the same.
Zareen released the statement on Twitter and captioned the post as, “All I want is a fair chance. If I’m not given the opportunity to compete what am I training for. Sports is about FairPlay & I don’t want to lose faith in my country.Jai Hind @KirenRijiju @RijijuOffice #AjaySingh @Media_SAI @DGSAI @BFI_official @kishanreddybjp @PMOIndia #TopsAthlete”.
Zareen started off by mentioning her victory at the Thailand Open and also highlighted that she was invited to take part in the trials for Women’s World Boxing Championships, but the event was cancelled at the last moment and Mary Kom was selected for the Championships.