London: Indian woman boxer M C Mary Kom’s American coach Charles Atkinson will not join her at the Olympic Village here 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 Coach with Marykom 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 Olympics, World Championships, Asian Games etc. “Hence Charles Atkinson cannot be accredited as a Coach of Marykom for London Olympics as per AIBA Rules,” he added.
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.
“Mr Anoop Kumar who is an AIBA 3 Star Accredited Coach is presently with Mary Kom at Liverpool and both of them will be joining the Olympic Games Village on August 2,” said Raja.
“As you are all aware Mr Anoop Kumar, Chief Coach of Women’s Boxing Team has been the mentor and trainer of Marykom right since she was picked up as a debutante in the Indian Boxing Team in 2001,” he added. Towards the end of 2011, Olympic Gold Quest, which is supporting Mary Kom, identified Atkinson for the training of Mary Kom at Balewadi, Pune from March this year. (PTI)