The Asian Games 2026 medallists will directly book their berths in next year’s World boxing championships, which will be the first qualifying event for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) said on Wednesday.

“We have tried to make the selection policy comprehensive and fair so that no good boxer is left out,” said a BFI official.

“Asian Games medallists will be selected as the main entries in their respective weight categories. The gold medallists of the 10th National championships shall serve as reserve entries in those weight categories,” said the BFI circular.

The 10th National championships will be held in Guwahati (women) and Patna (men) in December.

For weight categories in which India does not win medals at the Asian Games and the LA 2028 weight categories that are not part of the Asiad (men’s 65kg and women’s 57kg and 70kg), the gold medallists of the above-mentioned Nationals will be selected as main entries.

The Asian qualifier in China next year and two World qualifying tournaments in 2028 will also provide quota places for LA28.

Indian boxers losing in the ‘quota bout round’ (the winner of which earns a quota place) at the World championships will get direct entry to the Asian qualifiers. The remaining slots will be filled through a ranking selection trial among elite National campers after the boxers enter the National camp through dedicated pathways.

A similar process will be followed for the two World qualifying tournaments, to be held in Italy and Hungary, in 2028.

The National camp will start with medallists of the 10th National championships, Asian Games medallists and wild cards to be selected by the BFI selection committee.

For non-Olympic weights, gold medallists of the Nationals will be the main entries for the World championships in Kazakhstan, while the silver medallists will be the reserves.

Double World championships bronze medalist Vinesh Phogat’s comeback bid after a sabbatical following the Paris Olympics hit a roadblock when the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) found her ineligible as per a United World Wrestling (UWW) rule, which requires retired athletes to inform the world body six months prior to their intended return to competition. With an eye on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Phogat — a prominent face in the 2023 wrestlers’ protest and one of the six women who brought allegations of sexual harassment and started a legal battle against former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh — was aiming for a brave comeback in the Open Ranking tournament at the Nandini Nagar Mahavidyalaya; Brij Bhushan, also a Gonda strongman and former BJP Member of Parliament, owns it. The National Federation, which is headed by Brij Bhushan’s close aide Sanjay Singh, also issued a show-cause notice to Phogat on three separate, prominent grounds. Firstly, that she did not adhere to the 50kg weight limit and was disqualified after reaching the final at the Paris Olympics. It resulted in her disqualification, a loss of medal and negative publicity. Second, as an athlete in the registered testing pool, who is required to give a time slot every day and be available for dope tests, she had multiple whereabouts failures, including on December 18, shortly after announcing her comeback. Third, Phogat violated a UWW rule by competing in two weight categories, 50kg and 53kg, at a selection trial in March 2024 for an Olympic qualifying event.

But the timing of the show-cause notice and the charges, which Phogat has rubbished, raises doubts about the intentions behind it. As for the Paris fiasco, it happened two years ago. Under World Anti-Doping Agency rules, three missed tests and/or filing failures within a 12-month period constitute an anti-doping rule violation. It is, however, not applicable in Phogat’s case. Moreover, the UWW and National Anti-Doping Agency are the authorities concerned to deal with doping issues. The trials, in which Phogat participated in two weights, were held by an ad hoc body as the WFI was not recognised by the government at the time. As a parent body, the WFI should have shown maturity in handling Phogat’s comeback. Instead, it clubbed together different matters spanning two years to thwart the 31-year-old’s return. Phogat, who is a Congress legislator from Haryana, has shown her strong temperament and is working with her legal team to respond to the show-cause notice within 14 days. Meanwhile, the UWW should step in to stop the ugly bout between a decorated wrestler and the WFI. India can do without further embarrassment on this score.