The Board of Inquiry tasked to investigate the death of boxer, Ubayd Haider, has hit a roadblock after fight officials lawyered up.

BOI chairperson, Edwin Wainiqolo, says delay in the probe into the late boxer’s death came about after the promoter and financier engaged private legal practitioners.

He says half of the investigations have been completed as 12 stakeholders have been interviewed out of the 17 that were part of the promotion.

Wainiqolo says most of the five remaining stakeholders reside offshore and the investigation team is finding it an uphill battle due to issues that have escalated in the past few weeks.

One of the issues the Board now faces is dealing with private legal practitioners who have been engaged by the individuals yet to be interviewed.

Wainiqolo says they’re finding it difficult to get through to the promoter and financier of the promotion, and it has delayed their work by one week.

Due to this, the Board of Inquiry has extended the deadline to the end of this week.

The BOI Chair also says attempts to reach the promoter have been unsuccessful and they’re awaiting confirmation from him and his lawyer.

Wainiqolo says the five remaining stakeholders have every right to seek legal representation.

However, if the remaining five individuals refuse to be interviewed then the Board will continue with its investigation and submit their report to the Minister for Youth and Sports.

Apart from individuals seeking legal representation, Wainiqolo says the international organization that sanctioned the fight, IBO, have stood their ground and believe they’re not party to the proceedings because of their own statutes.

Wainiqolo says they’ve referred these grey areas to the Office of the Solicitor General in the hope of getting some clarification and advice on what steps to take next.

The Terms of Reference given to the Board to complete its investigations was 30 days.

Renowned Fiji featherweight boxer, Haider, tragically passed away at age 25 on November 10 at the Aspen Lautoka Hospital.

Haider was hospitalized after being knocked out in the ninth round by Australia-based Runqi Zhou during the South Pacific Promotion’s IBO Asia Pacific Featherweight Title fight at Nadi’s King Charles Park in October.

Following the fight, he collapsed in the locker room and was admitted in a critical condition, where he was placed in an induced coma before he passed away.