Thailand’s amateur boxing chief General Taweep Jantararoj says the London Games in 2012 will be tough for the Thai national squad that is experiencing a transition period as many older athletes are being replaced by new faces.

General Taweep, president of the Amateur Boxing Association of Thailand (ABAT), said the national squad would have enough time to train the new athletes for the games, while commenting that some of the more experienced athletes in the team may be discharged if not well prepared.

“I am not sure how many of the older boxers would pass the association’s test, but those who are not well prepared will not be selected for the games. If they competed in such conditions, they would tarnish the country’s reputation rather than strengthening it,” he said.

Worapoj Petchkoom has become the third member of the national amateur boxing squad, following Manus Boonjumnong and Pichai Sayotha, to drop out of the upcoming King’s Cup tournament.

Athens Games silver medalist bantamweight boxer Worapoj has requested to withdraw himself from the upcoming 31st King’s Cup tournament, scheduled on April 4-9 in Bangkok, due to poor physical conditions, said General Taweep Jantararoj, president of the Amateur Boxing Association of Thailand (ABAT).

The upset ABAT chief said if no proper medical report was provided, the association would demand for a punishment on Worapoj, as his sudden withdrawal from the tournament has affected the team that now has to look for his replacement.

The International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) has ‘temporarily’ lifted its suspension of Thailand’s amateur boxing chief General Taweep Jantararoj from the executive board while waiting the court ruling on the case.

General Taweep Jantararoj was earlier suspended from the executive committee of AIBA, following his criticisms of the neutrality of the association’s judges and officials at the Beijing Games in 2008.

The association was about to make a decision on the appropriate punishment on General Taweep after the suspension, but the Thai chief then filed a case against AIBA to the court in Switzerland where AIBA is located, claiming that the suspension was unfair and unfounded.

Thai amateur boxing chief General Taweep Jantararoj has been “suspended” from the executive committee of International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) for his criticism of the association’s judges in the Beijing Games last year.

General Taweep, who is now in his fourth term as the president of the Amateur Boxing Association of Thailand (ABAT), has reportedly upset the AIBA executives when he publicly criticized the neutrality of the AIBA judges and officials in the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008. He also claimed that certain figures were attempting to remove him from AIBA.