New Delhi, Mar 8 (IANS): The Delhi High Court on Thursday ruled that the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) should continue to be the governing body of the sport in the country.

In its ruling, the court also held that the BFI's rival body Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF) should refrain from using the words 'India' or 'Indian' in its official name.

In its petition before the court, the BFI had pleaded that the IABF should be prevented from presenting itself as the body governing the sport of boxing in the country.

The IABF is in the process of organising the sub-junior inter-zonal championships for which it has already taken participation fees from the concerned boxers.

In such a scenario, the BFI had no other option but to adopt the legal route in the matter.

"The court order further consolidates BFI's status after it earned formal recognition from the AIBA, Sports Ministry and IOA in 2017. The BFI has worked tirelessly since in a bid to make India a boxing powerhouse," the BFI said in a statement.

"With Ajay Singh as the president, the BFI has restructured the domestic system, resulting in a steady flow of talent which has led to an increase of medals from elite international competitions in the last couple of years and have brought marquee World Boxing events to India for the first time since 2017," the statement added.