2021 men's World Boxing Championship: India loses hosting rights
New Delhi: India on Tuesday lost the hosting rights of the 2021 men's world boxing championship to Serbia after the International Boxing association alleged non-payment of host fee by the national federation, which claimed that AIBA "acted in haste".
The Boxing Federation of India acknowledged the delay but blamed it on "procedural complications" arising out of the AIBA's failure to resolve "issues" with regards to the account in which the money was to be transferred.
The payment of what is estimated to be USD 4 million was due to be made on December 2 last year.
"After New Delhi didn't fulfill its obligations to pay host fee as mentioned in the Host City Agreement terms, AIBA has terminated the contract. Therefore, India would have to pay a cancellation penalty of USD 500," the AIBA said in a statement.
The elite competition, which would have happened for the first time in the country, will now be held in the Serbian city of Belgrade.
"Serbia has everything to organize a great event for athletes, coaches, officials, and, of course, for our boxing fans," AIBA Interim President Mohamed Moustahsane stated.
The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) is headed by Ajay Singh, who also owns Spicejet Airlines. AIBA has been suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for financial mismanagement.
"AIBA account in Lausanne was frozen. AIBA intended to have some previous payments through an account in Serbia. As Serbia is in the Grey List of Financial Action Task Force (FATF countries), Indian Banks do not normally send money to Serbia. AIBA could not resolve these issues," read a statement from BFI to PTI.
"...we have reasons to believe that the decision to change the venue of WCH-2021 was taken in haste without due consultation with BFI...the penalty that is imposed is shocking and surprising
"...both parties are working for an amicable solution. BFI is confident that the penalty will be waived off and we will host World Championships in future," it added.
The national body conducted the women's World Championship in 2018 and won the hosting rights of the Asian Championships later this year just weeks ago.
The AIBA said it is glad to have found a new host for the event, which would be held in an Olympic year now after the Tokyo Games had to be postponed in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It's a big step toward our new competition system and also the financial stability of our organisation, which is going to be less and less dependent on the Olympic money," Moustahsane said.
"Because of rescheduling of the Olympic 2020, AIBA Executive Committee will discuss with the host country possible dates to adjust," he added.
"We believe that we will keep planned time-frame and conduct World Championships in 2021 after the Games if the pandemic situation is under control."
President of Serbian Boxing Federation, Nenad Borovcanin welcomed the Championships back to Belgrade after 43 years.
"After the historical tournament of 1978 in the capital city of Yugoslavia, this is the second time for our nation to be back as hosts. I strongly believe that the Serbian Boxing Federation will do a fantastic job in organising this tournament...," he said.
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Gurugram Police arrest BJP Yuva Morcha member for spreading fake murder story on social media
New Delhi: Gurugram Police have arrested BJP Yuva Morcha member Hariom Mishra, for allegedly spreading a fabricated and communally sensitive story on social media about the murder of a college student in Gurugram.
Mishra who is also known as Shaurya Mishra had shared a collage of four photographs on his X handle earlier this month. He claimed that a 24-year-old college student, identified as Nikita Agarwal, had been murdered by her classmate Arif Khan in Gurugram. In the post, he alleged that the woman was blackmailed, forced into prostitution, gangraped, and eventually killed. He also claimed that Arif dumped her body in a forest. The claims were presented as being based on police sources.
The post went viral and garnering over 1.5 lakh views, and was amplified by several right-wing social media handles across X, Facebook and Instagram. A verification of the claims revealed that no such incident had taken place in Gurugram. A search of credible news reports showed no record of any such murder. The police said this news would have inevitably attracted media attention if it were true.
On December 11, Gurugram Police publicly refuted the claims through their official X handle. They stated that the information which was being circulated was completely false. The police warned that legal action would be taken against those spreading misinformation. Despite the warning, Mishra neither deleted the post nor issued any clarification.
Police in Gurugram confirmed Mishra's arrest on December 16. The police said a FIR was filed after he continued to spread false information about the alleged murder of a Hindu woman by Muslim man. Police said Mishra, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi district, is now being investigated.
Gurugram Police spokesperson Sandeep Singh told The Print that the accused had deliberately misrepresented facts and used objectionable content to spread hatred along religious lines. “Such posts can create serious disturbances in society, and the police take these matters very seriously,” he said.
A reverse image search conducted by fact-checkers at Alt News, revealed that the photographs used in the viral post were unrelated to the claims, while two of the images were traced to a Pinterest account belonging to influencer Maulik Chopra and another image was sourced from an Instagram post by influencer Shivam Thakur featuring a woman named Deepanshi Rawat. The fourth image was found on an unrelated Instagram page. The images depicted different individuals and had no connection to any crime.
Police said they are also investigating Mishra’s motive behind sharing the false and provocative content.
