The Indian men’s boxing team’s High Performance Director (HPD) Santiago Nieva is all set to be retained for at least one more year after several rounds of deliberation within the national federation following an underwhelming Olympic performance by the pugilists.
The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) will also search for a HPD for women boxers and invite applications through advertisements. That position was left vacant after Italian Raffaele Bergamasco’s contract was not renewed after the Tokyo Olympics, where Lovlina Borgohain was the lone pugilist to clinch a medal.
Nieva, who is at his base in Sweden right now, was given a three-month extension after the Games.
The BFI had stated that a further extension for Nieva would depend on a review of the performance in Tokyo where none of the male boxers could go past the preliminary rounds.
“It is almost a done deal that Santiago will be retained. The position of Women’s HPD would be advertised for. In fact, Sports Authority of India (SAI) has allowed BFI to have HPDs for junior and youth boxers as well, so we will advertise for these positions as well,” a top federation source said.
“Santiago would be in another for one year and from now on, it has been decided that all foreign coaches for boxers would be signed up as HPDs,” he added.
