New Delhi, May 2 (IANS): Boxing Federation of India (BFI) high performance director Santiago Nieva's proposal to shift the national camp to Italy to prepare the men and women's teams for this month's Asian Boxing Championships has not been cleared by BFI executive board, said a top official on Sunday.

"During a BFI executive board online meeting last Friday, the expert from Sweden had proposed to hold a camp in Italy. But it wasn't approved as we think it is better to stay in India and train," the BFI official, who was present in the meeting, told IANS.

The Asian Boxing Championships begins on May 21 in Dubai.

Nieva didn't respond to text messages and phone calls from IANS while chief national coach CA Kuttappa couldn't be reached.

The men's camp is in progress at the National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala. But the Sports Authority of India (SAI) closed the women's camp at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Sports Complex here last week after several boxers tested positive for Covid-19.

Due to lockdown in New Delhi, the BFI executive board has also proposed to shift the women's camp to the NIS. "SAI campus in Patiala is better than New Delhi," said a BFI official.

To monitor the health of the Olympic-bound athletes, the SAI has started weekly Covid-19 RT-PCR tests to avoid the spread of the virus.

Delhi is one of the worst affected cities in India, with the tally of Covid-related cases increasing daily. The city is currently in a lockdown.