Wrestling
'We will organise our National Championship soon': Suspended WFI prez, Sanjay Singh
The ad-hoc panel, on Sunday, December 31, 2023, announced that it will organise the senior national championships in Jaipur from February 2-5.
Sanjay Singh was elected as the WFI president on December 21, 2023.
Sanjay Singh, the newly elected president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), remained combative about the suspension of the elected office-bearers by the sports ministry and said they do not assent to the national championships that the ad-hoc panel announced.
The ad-hoc panel, on Sunday, December 31, announced that it will organise the senior national championships in Jaipur from February 2-5.
“We got elected democratically. The Returning Officer had signed the papers, how do they ignore that? We do not recognise this ad-hoc panel,” Singh told news agency PTI.
“We do not recognise this suspension. The WFI is working smoothly, we are on the job," he claimed.
The Sanjay Singh-led elected committee of the federation was suspended by the sports ministry on December 24, citing violations of several rules of National Sports Codes after Sakshi Malik announced her retirement in protest against former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh loyalists' election, while Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat returned their national medallions.
Singh, however, refused to accept the suspension and questioned the viability of the nationals.
“How will they (ad-hoc panel) organise Nationals if our state associations will not send the teams. We will organise our National Championship soon. We are soon calling the Executive Committee meeting. The notice of the EC meeting will be sent in a day or two and we will have the Nationals organised before they do it," Singh declared.
Currently, an ad-hoc panel led by Bhupender Singh Bajwa and assisted by former hockey player M M Somaya and ex-shuttler Manjusha Kanwar has been handed the task of running the federation by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) at the request of the ministry.
On Monday, the ad-hoc panel also announced that the men's and women's national wrestling camps will be held in Sonepat and Patiala from 9th February.
Now, if the Singh-led committee calls for separate nationals and camps it will further deepen the crisis in Indian wrestling.
Indian wrestling has been in turmoil since January 2023 when the wrestlers, led by Rio Olympic medallist Sakshi, Tokyo Olympic and World Championships medallist Bajrang and Worlds and Asian Games medallist Vinesh, staged sit-in protests in Delhi alleging sexual harassment, stalking and intimidation of women wrestlers by Brij Bhushan.
