New Delhi, Dec 8 (IANS): The upcoming elections of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), slated to take place on December 18, have been postponed after a majority of its member state associations expressed safety concerns over Covid-19 pandemic, it was announced on Tuesday. Members were perhaps also nervous after an official of another sports body died of Covid-19.

A large number of voting members of BFI are above 60 years and are in the high-risk Covid-19 category and thus 23 state associations out of 32 wrote to the Returning Officer, Justice Rajesh Tandon, requesting postponement of the elections, said a BFI statement.

Subsequently, the Returning Officer wrote to the boxing federation recommending that elections be deferred. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has also given its approval for the postponement.

Earlier, a senior sports administrator of another national sports federation, who had come to Delhi to participate in his federation's electoral process, died due to Covid-19.

Former president of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) and BJP leader Ashish Shelar was set to take on incumbent BFI chief Ajay Singh and had filed his nomination papers last week.

The BFI elections, which had been postponed from September due to the Covid-19 pandemic, were scheduled to take place during the organisation's Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) in Gurugram on December 18.