3 minute read

Teenage boxer Jai Opetaia has been given time to rejoin Australia's Olympic squad or train alone with his father.

Teenage heavyweight Jai Opetaia has been given time to decide whether to rejoin Australia's Olympic boxing squad and defuse a simmering dispute with team coach Don Abnett.

Opetaia has not been with the team for over two months since being banned from its seven week European tour for missing a block of training in March.

The team came together in Canberra on Wednesday for its final six week camp before heading to Ireland and then into the London Olympic village for the July 27 opening ceremony.

But Opetaia, 16, and his father and trainer Martin returned from the United States on Wednesday morning and have been given until Monday to decide whether to join the team and resume what has become an uncomfortable relationship with Abnett.

Boxing Australia chief executive Kable Kelleway said Opetaia is under no obligation to be in the camp, but if he stays at home on the NSW central coast to train with his father, he won't receive any financial or technical support.

"It'd be nice to have him here. He's a good kid and has a lot of potential," Kelleway said on Wednesday.

"But there's got to be rules and regulations, we can't let athletes walk all over us.

"We'd welcome him back but I think there'll be some communication to make sure we're on the right page and to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Kelleway said Opetaia was granted three days leave from the team camp before the Oceania championships in March to attend a family funeral, but stayed away for over two weeks and missed 19 training sessions.

"We deemed that to be unacceptable and there were going to be ramifications ... he wouldn't be travelling overseas with the team," Kelleway said.

But Martin Opetaia says his son was only away from the camp for eight days longer than permitted.

While the team was in Europe, the Opetaias travelled to the US for two weeks of sparring.

Martin Opetaia said he and his son would decide over the next few days whether to return to the squad or train on their own.

"We're going to sit down and work it out," he said.

"He's 16 years old and he shouldn't be pressured like that. He shouldn't be worried about this. All he wants is to train and fight."

He also said he wasn't sure he could accept Kelleway's offer to join the camp and help train his son alongside Abnett.

The teenager could train away from the team until the Olympics, but once in London, only Abnett and the other coaches will be allowed to train him and sit in his corner.