KARACHI, May 11: International Boxing Association (AIBA) on Tuesday emphasized to introduce women boxing in Pakistan with an aim to expand the base of the sport in Asia.

"If so many countries have women in boxing, why not in Pakistan. I feel Pakistani women should come in this sport also," said Nieva Embuldeniya, member of AIBA's women boxing commission.

The AIBA official stressed that Pakistan should also encourage women to involve in boxing since at least 14 Asian countries had women in the game. "Women are practising boxing in 14 Asian countries including China, South Korea and even my country Sri Lanka.

Women came into the sport in 1990 in Europe and 2000 in Asia and two world championships have been organized successfully," she said. Embuldeniya brushed aside the argument that boxing is not safe for women, saying the protective gear had made the game safer than the past.

"In women amateur boxing we use all the protective gear being used in men's boxing. And apart from that some additional protective gear is also being used because of physical difference which has made the sport safer for women," she said.

However, the official said it depended on the national associations whether they wanted to have women boxing since it was not mandatory. "Anwar Chowdhry is the president of Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF).

It depends on him whether he feels to have women boxing or not in Pakistan. If any association wants to start women boxing AIBA will help it.

"Sometimes there is a cultural barrier in introducing women boxing in certain countries like Saudi Arabia. But here in Pakistan if women could involve in judo and karate then why not in boxing. Someday we will see Pakistani girls in boxing too," she hoped.