Donation campaign in Manipur to clear Sarita’s AIBA fine

Imphal: With the primary objective to clear the AIBA fine imposed on boxer Laishram Sarita Devi and her two coaches amounting to Rs 2.40 lakh, the Manipur Olympic Association (MOA) and a group of journalists kicked off a donation campaign on Saturday.
The first day of the campaign saw a collection of Rs 34,600 by the group named “Boxer L Sarita Support Group”.
“The MOA and Editors’ Guild Manipur have decided to launch ‘Boxer L Sarita Support Group’ to raise funds to meet fine imposed by AIBA on Sarita and her two coaches — Cuban coach Fernandez and Personal coach A Lenin,” said a press release.
Sarita said, “I’m so happy with the initiative. I’m proud to be a Manipuri as the people of our state have taken up such a nice initiative to encourage and support athletes and their coaches during their times of trouble.”
“My coaches, who landed in trouble because of me, would also be happy about the humanitarian service taken up by the group. I’ll practise hard to earn laurels in the 2016 Rio Olympics and other international championships,” Sarita added.
Trouble began when Sarita refused to accept her Incheon Asian Games bronze medal during the awards ceremony after her controversial loss in the women’s 60-kg semifinal bout against Korean Jina Park in October last year.
Besides banning her for a year ending October this year, the AIBA imposed the fine on Sarita, a deputy SP in Manipur Police. Owing to the provisional ban, Sarita missed the world boxing Championship held in November in Korea’s Jeju Islands. “We are appealing to our sports loving people of Manipur to graciously donate small amounts of money to express their solidarity for this young mother of one who dared to take on the international sports body like the AIBA,” said a member of group.