Narsingh Yadav elected chairman of WFI's Athletes Commission
In the elections, seven members out of eight got elected. The elected members then chose Narsingh as chairman of the commission as mandated by the UWW.
Narsingh Yadav is a Commonwealth Games and Asian Championships gold medal winning former wrestler.
Former wrestler Narsingh Yadav was elected the chairman of the Wrestling Federation of India's Athletes' Commission in Varanasi on Wednesday as mandated by the United World Wrestling (UWW), the international governing body for wrestling.
In the elections, conducted on the ballot paper, seven members out of eight got elected. The elected members then chose Narsingh as chairman of the commission.
Narsingh, Commonwealth Games and Asian Championships gold medallist, hit the headlines when two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar requested a trial bout against him after he missed the qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympics due to an injury.
Sushil moved the Delhi High Court but the court rejected his appeal.
When Narsingh looked set for the Rio Olympics, he failed two dope tests and was banned for four years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport even though the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) had cleared him on the plea that his failed test was the result of sabotage.
Since CAS' decision came a day before this opening bout in Rio, he missed out on representing India at the Olympics. His ban ended in July 2020.
The other elected members of the Athletes Commission are Sahil (Delhi), Smitha AS (Kerala), Bharti Bhaghei (UP), Khushboo S Pawar (Gujarat), Nikki (Haryana), and Sweta Dubey (Bengal).
The UWW, while lifting the WFI ban in February 2024, urged the Sanjay Singh-led federation to constitute an athletes' commission before July 1 to resolve the grievances of the grapplers.