Bergamasco and his men's team counterpart Santiago Nieva had requested a three-month extension from the BFI.
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Raffaele Bergamasco, the High Performance Director for Indian women’s boxing, has decided to return to his home in Italy after nearly a month “waiting” for the national federation to reportedly respond to his questions about whether he would be “retained.” Bergamasco’s contract expires on Wednesday, and the 50-year-old, who joined in 2017, told Indian news agency PTI that he is exhausted and stressed after not hearing back from the Boxing Federation of India (BFI).
“I will go home now. I will wait for the BFI to respond to me in the next two weeks on my status before the women’s national championship happens in mid-October. I am very stressed and in a bad situation,” he said. “If they call me, I will come back on October 15 before the Nationals and if they don’t, then I will decide what to do next. I will send an e-mail like I have been doing. I have no bitterness, I just want some communication,” the Italian added.
Bergamasco and his men’s team counterpart Santiago Nieva had requested a three-month extension from the BFI. According to the BFI, a decision on further extension will be made based on the results of the upcoming world championships for men (in October) and women (in December). Bergamasco was scheduled to return to his home base of Assisi on Thursday. He claimed that only the Sports Authority of India (SAI) contacted him after he sent several e-mails seeking clarification on his status.
“The SAI got back to me and told me that they are waiting for the BFI to take a call and cannot say anything beyond that. I have been in my room at the Indira Gandhi Stadium for the last one month and I think I need to go back to my family,” he said.
Only after the national championships will the women boxers reassemble for a full-fledged camp. According to a federation source, the BFI will submit a report to the SAI on its Tokyo Olympics review by September 30, and no decisions will be made until then.
Despite the current uncertainty, both Bergamasco and Nieva have expressed a desire to continue. India sent its largest boxing team ever to the Olympic Games in July-August, with five men and four women competing. Only Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) was able to finish on the podium with a bronze medal.
It was India’s first Olympic boxing medal in nine years, but more was expected given the pugilists’ excellent form leading up to the showpiece. None of the male boxers advanced to the medal rounds, with Satish Kumar (91kg) the only one to reach the quarterfinals in Tokyo, earning praise for fighting his last-eight match while wearing 13 stitches on his face.
BFI president Ajay Singh backed the boxers and coaching staff in Tokyo, saying he would not forget the unprecedented results of the previous four years, which included two medals for the first time at the men’s World Championships and never-before-seen hauls in the Asian and Commonwealth Games.
According to federation sources, there may be a coaching staff overhaul for both men and women due to “dissatisfaction” with the Tokyo Olympics performance.
