Wrestling nationals to be held in Jaipur in February: WFI ad-hoc panel

The newly formed ad-hoc panel of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) announced that the senior national championships will be held at the Railway Stadium at Ganpati Nagar, Jaipur, from February 2 to 5.

The federation will organise the event in collaboration with the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) at Railway Stadium.

The competitions will be held in senior freestyle, Greco Roman and the women’s section, the Bhupinder Singh Bajwa-led panel said in a press release.

The press release also warned all stakeholders of the game that no one should be in touch with the suspended body of the federation.

"All correspondence should be done with ad-hoc panel," the ad-hoc panel stated.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Wednesday announced a three-member ad-hoc committee, led by Bajwa, to oversee the operations of the WFI after the sports ministry suspended the newly-elected body for violating the National Sports Codes last week.

The two other members of the panel are 1998 Commonwealth Games badminton medallist Manjusha Kanwar and 1980 Olympic gold medallist hockey player MM Somaya.

Sanjay Singh, a close aide of former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, was elected as the president of the national federation on December 21. Shortly after his elections, he announced that the U15 and U20 nationals would be held in Gonda, the consistency of controversial BJP MP Brij Bhushan, who has been charged with outraging the modesty of women wrestlers.

While suspending the newly elected body, the ministry had also said that wrestlers were not given enough time to participate in the nationals.

The ministry also said Singh was working under the "complete control of former (WFI) office-bearers", which was not in conformity with the WFI constitution.

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