Foreign camps serve no purpose, says Arjuna awardee boxer Akhil

New Delhi, Aug 30 (UNI) Lamenting the lack of government support for boxing, Arjuna awardee and Commonwealth Games gold medal winning pugilist Akhil Kumar today said coaching camps held outside the country serve little purpose and the money spent on them can be better utillised by having such camps within the country.

Akhil, who was one among the 13 sportspersons to be honoured with the Arjuna award by President APJ Abdul Kalam yesterday, told UNI that he would prefer to train at home and rather play more tournaments abroad for better preparation.

''At least 40 dollars are spent on each boxer whenever we go to train abroad. To me that's a lot of money which can be put to use better if the same amnout is spent on training camps here. I think it would be better to have more tournaments abroad,'' the pugilist who won a gold medal in the just concluded SAF Games said.

''When we go abroad half the time is spent adjusting to the new atmosphere. We have to alter out food habits and get familiar with the conditions and that's a difficult process. It takes time and that affects the overall time table,'' he said.

Akhil felt the government's apathy towards the sport was evident from the fact that boxers were not even getting the right equipment to prepare for intermnational tournaments.

''Boxing is not a rich man's sport. It is pursued by middle-class athletes...So it is important for the government to support us. But I don't think it is doing much. We don't get any assistance in buying international level gear and that affects our performance when we go for tournaments abroad,'' Akhil said.

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