NEW DELHI: It’s back to square one for Indian wrestling. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Monday dissolved the ad-hoc panel formed to run the day-to-day affairs of the WFI, giving full control of the sport to the federation headed by Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s close side, Sanjay Singh.
Singh, Brij Bhushan’s trusted lieutenant, close friend and business partner, will now have the full authority to run WFI, forming selection policies for trials and Paris Olympic qualifiers, which could affect the future participation of protesting wrestlers – including Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat – in national and international competitions.
The Singh-led panel had sounded off United World Wrestling (UWW), the sport’s global governing body, about Vinesh’s twin participation in women’s freestyle 50kg and 53kg weight divisions during trials for the Olympic qualifiers — to be held in Kyrgyzstan’s Bishkek from April 19-21 — in Patiala against the rules.
IOA’s hands were forced and it was forced to dissolve its ad-hoc body after UWW lifted the suspension it had imposed on WFI on February 13 last month. TOI was the first to report in its edition dated March 1 that the IOA-run three-member ad-hoc committee, which was formed on Dec 27 on the directions of the govt, will soon be dissolved to hand over WFI’s administration to the panel headed by Singh.
In a letter issued on Monday, IOA said the decision to dissolve the committee was taken considering the lifting of the suspension by the UWW and the recent successful completion of trials by the ad-hoc body. However, the WFI still remains under suspension by the sports ministry on the grounds of violating the national sports code and its own constitution.
The IOA reminded WFI that it’s under obligation to 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 UWW and other relevant authorities”.
IOA also directed the WFI to conduct the election of its athletes’ commission in a time-bound manner, a decision which has rendered the election of London Olympics bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt as invalid.
Singh thanked IOA, saying: “We will do everything in our capacity to maximise the participation of Indian wrestlers at the Paris Olympics. Now that we have full control of the federation, we will have our executive committee and AGM on March 29 to decide the future course of action.”
