Indian woman boxer M.C. Mary Kom’s American coach Charles Atkinson will not join her at the Olympic Village as he does not have an International Boxing Association (AIBA) 3-star certification, which is a pre-requisite for accreditation.
“As per International Boxing Association (AIBA) rules, only those coaches and trainers who are AIBA approved and accredited are permitted to participate as coaches or seconds for boxers at the Olympics. “Charles Atkinson who has been Mary Kom’s coach for the past six months is a professional WBC coach and has trained Thai WBC boxers in Thailand,” India’s acting Chef-de-mission Brig. P.K. Muralidharan Raja said in a statement.
“AIBA does not permit any boxing coach who does not have an AIBA 3-star certification to be coaches at the Olympics, world championships, Asian Games, etc. “Hence Mr. Charles Atkinson cannot be accredited as Mary Kom’s coach for the Olympics as per AIBA rules,” he added.
ADVERTISEMENT
Instead, Mary will train with India’s national coach Anoop Kumar ahead of her August 5 bout when women’s boxing will make its Olympic debut.