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The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has said that they will challenge the Union Minister Anurag Thakur-led Indian Sports ministry’s decision to suspend the newly elected body. The WFI has also called for an Executive Committee meeting in national capital Delhi on 16 January to discuss the way forward.
The suspended WFI has said that the suspension by the sport ministry violated the National Sports Code and the WFI constitution.
The WFI has maintained that it neither accepts the suspension nor does it recognise the ad-hoc panel that has been constituted by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to manage the day-to-day affairs of the sport.
“We need a properly functioning Federation. We are taking the matter to the court next week. This suspension is not acceptable to us because we were elected democratically. We have also called the Executive Committee meeting on January 16,” WFI President Sanjay Singh told PTI.
Notably, the Indian government had suspended the newly-elected body on 24 December, three days after the Federation conducted its election, and sexual harassment accused BJP MP Brij Bhushan Saran Singh‘s close aide Sanjay Singh emerged as the winner.
The election result saw ace grappler Sakshi Malik ‘quit’. In protest, medalists Bajrang Punia, and Vinesh Phogat returned their national awards on the Kartavya Path after they were not allowed to go till Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence.
Meanwhile, a WFI official told news agency PTI, that the notice for the Executive Committee was issued on December 31. One of the points in the circulated agenda is to “explain define and interpret certain provisions of the constitution.”
The circular clearly mentioned, citing the constitution, that the President “shall be chief officer of the WFI. He shall be empowered to call meetings of the council and executive, if he deems proper.”
It may be mentioned that the ministry had objected to non-involvement of the secretary general in the December 21 General Council meeting of the WFI.
The WFI had maintained that it had not flouted any rule and that the President, as per the constitution, had the power to take decisions and the secretary general was bound to execute those decisions.
“We will discuss the formation of the ad-hoc panel and also the hosting of the National Championships in different age groups,” said a source.
The ad-hoc panel has already announced that it will conduct senior Nationals from February 3 in Jaipur and the age group championships in Gwalior within next six weeks.
It remains to be seen whether the wrestlers, who are the main stakeholders in the sport, will choose to compete in the events organised by WFI or the ones conducted by the ad-hoc committee.
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Published: 04 Jan 2024, 04:40 PM IST
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