DSO boxing stalled as referees not yet paid

Players, coaches and parents, who reached SAI, Kandivli at 10 am on Wednesday, endure five-hour wait for District Sports Office boxing finals to start due to referees' non-payment

The District Sports Office (DSO) boxing finals at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Kandivli was marred by an embarrassing situation yesterday when players, parents and coaches of school children had to relentlessly wait for close to five hours due to absence of officials, who threatened to boycott the event as they were not paid their dues.

Players and coaches wait near the boxing arena for the District Sports Office (DSO) finals to kick off at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Centre in Kandivli yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Mumbai Upnagar Boxing Association (MUBA) was asked by DSO to organise the tournament. The sports authorities assured reimbursements to the association, but that never came in. So, on the day of the finals, MUBA had it enough and decided to not go about with the events. It was only after the lunch that the payments were made.

"We made them the payment today. Now let's see how long the sanctioning process takes. Sometimes the money gets sanctioned early while there other times it gets delayed. I can't do anything," Dhanraj Motghare, a DSO Sports Officer told mid-day yesterday.

Interestingly, according to Joint Secretary of MUBA, Vimlesh Singh, only a part of the payment was given to them and this happens every year.

Half measures
"This is the problem we face every year. They paid us next to nothing last year. This year we took a stand and that is why we got the money. But we only received one-third of what we were supposed to get. We are paying from our pockets. Because of this, we are seen in bad light. The parents and coaches ask us about the matter, but the real problem is the inadequacy of funds from DSO. This is the reason why we can't win medals at the Olympics. If this is the case in a city like Mumbai then imagine what happens in rural areas," Singh remarked.

Sadly, young players, who came in at 10 am, had to bear the brunt of this situation. They had to wait long for a mere three-minute bout, angering a lot of parents and coaches. Most said the organisers should have called off the tournament before hand. Laxman Thorat, coach of St Stanislaus (Bandra), who had two of his boys in the U-14 finals, was of the opinion that if a stand has to be taken, then the association should refuse to organise the tournament for DSO.

"If they really want to show them, they should refuse to organise the tournament for them on their behalf. Every year this is a problem. How much money can the association put on their own?" he asked.

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