The Indian Olympic Association [IOA], on Monday, dissolved the ad-hoc committee for wrestling and gave complete administrative control to the Wrestling Federation of India [WFI]. This means that Sanjay Singh’s panel, which was elected in December 2023, will return to power.
In its statement, the IOA said “there is no further need” for the ad-hoc panel it to run the sport after revocation of the suspension of the WFI and added that the decision was also guided by the successful conduct of the selection trials for next month’s Olympic qualifying tournament for which the panel collaborated with WFI.
The ad-hoc committee was formed in December last year after the sports ministry suspended the WFI, whose suspension by the global governing body — United World Wrestling [UWW] — was lifted in February.
“The decision to dissolve the Adhoc Committee comes in light of the lifting of the ban on the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) by the United World Wrestling (UWW) and the successful completion of Selection Trials by the Adhoc Committee appointed by the IOA as per the directives of the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi,” said the IOA order issued on March 18.
WFI president Sanjay thanked the IOA for giving his elected panel control of the national federation. “We thank IOA for giving us full-fledged control of the WFI. We will give all facilities to the wresters. We will soon organise a national camp and if the wrestlers want to train abroad, we will facilitate that as well. The focus is now on the Olympics. We are hoping that 5-6 wrestlers will qualify,” Singh told PTI.
The ad-hoc, committee, led by Bhupender Singh Bajwa, was constituted after the newly-elected WFI had allegedly flouted its own rules. Earlier this month, the panel organised the trials to select the teams for the Asian Championships and Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Kyrgyzstan to be held next month. Following the successful completion of the trials the reins of the sport have been handed over to WFI.
The IOA has instructed the WFI to appoint a “Safeguarding Committee Officer” to address concerns of sexual harassment and other issues such as adherence to rules.
“…as instructed by the UWW, it is imperative that the WFI appoint a Safeguarding Committee / Officer at the earliest to address the concerns of abuse and harassment and to ensure adherence to all rules, regulations, and guidelines set forth by the UWW and other relevant authorities,” the letter added.
“Furthermore, the WFI is also directed to conduct the elections of the Athletes Commission in a time-bound manner, in accordance with the established procedures and guidelines.
“This step is essential to promote athlete representation and participation in the decision-making processes of the WFI.”
Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, the three prominent faces of the wrestlers’ protest against erstwhile WFI president Birj Bhushan Sharan Singh, have vehemently opposed Sanjay’s post as the federation’s president. Vinesh had expressed her displeasure right after the elections last year, which also prompted Sakshi to retire from wrestling. Last month, Bajrang had refused to participate in March’s selection trials for the Asian Championships if the trials were being held by Sanjay’s faction.
The wrestlers have maintained that they don’t want Sanjay in power due to his proximity with Brij Bhushan. Speaking to reporters on January 3, Sakshi had said, “We don’t have any issues with the new federation except one man, Sanjay Singh. We don’t have any issue if the new body comes back without Sanjay Singh. We do not have any issue with the ad-hoc committee as well,” she told reporters.
“The government is like parents for us and I would request them to make wrestling safe for the upcoming wrestlers. You have seen how Sanjay Singh has been behaving. I don’t want Sanjay Singh’s interference in the federation,” she added.
