Indian boxers' US training trip off due to visa troubles again

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New Delhi: The Indian boxers' much-delayed training trip to the acclaimed Michael Johnson Centre in the USA has been cancelled for a second time owing to visa problems.

The boxers were originally scheduled to travel there in December in preparation for the recently-concluded Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. However, that did not work out because of visa issues.

The revised plan was to head to the facility in Texas in May first week. However, that too has fallen apart due to visa problems.

"It's not happening, the visa applications have been rejected again. We do have a plan B but even that is not sure at the moment," a top Boxing Federation of India official told PTI.

The state-of-the-art centre was founded by four-time Olympic gold-medallist and nine-time world champion Johnson in 2007.

This would have been the first training trip to the USA for Indian boxers, who have traditionally altered between Europe and Cuba for preparatory camps.

The centre is much sought after among top athletes and specialises in performance training, physical therapy, bio-mechanical assessments and nutrition consultation.

It currently has a tie-up with English Premier League side Arsenal for developing youngsters of the club.