Parveen Hooda's Suspension Forces India To Concede Olympics Quota; To Fight Afresh For 57kg In Final Qualifiers

In an unprecedented embarrassment for Indian boxing, the country will fight afresh for qualification in the women's 57kg category after being forced to surrender the quota owing to holder Parveen Hooda's international suspension for three whereabout failures in 12 months. Hooda was handed a 22-month suspension by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The 2022 world championship bronze medallist boxer, who fetched the Olympic quota with an Asian Games bronze last year, failed to file her whereabouts in the period from April 2022 to March 2023 as per WADA rules.

"Parveen Hooda has been suspended for 22 months by the International Testing Agency (ITA) for Whereabouts Failures," the Boxing Federation of India said in a media release.

However, after discussion with the concerned agencies, Parveen's sanction has been back-dated and she has to now serve a 14-month suspension starting Friday.

"Pursuant to multiple discussions and representations, the ITA has proposed a sanction on Parveen, entailing the imposition of an ineligibility period of 22-months, which has been now backdated by eight months as compared to initial suspension period of 24 months backdated by six months. In essence the sanction is of 14 months, starting from May 17, 2024." This means Parveen will not be able to compete at the Paris Games in July-August this year. In boxing, a quota is awarded to the athlete not the country.

This leaves only three Indian boxers -- Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti (54kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) -- in the Olympic-bound group for now.

With the final Olympic qualifier scheduled to begin on May 24 in Bangkok, India will have another chance to qualify for the women's 57kg weight category. But the country can only field reserves