English
New Delhi: After suspending the newly formed Wrestling Federation of India by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS), led by Anurag Thakur, who had earlier requested the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) form an ad hoc committee to manage and control the affairs of the governing body. However, in the latest suspension development, the IOA Adhoc Committee has formed a three-member ad hoc committee to oversee the day-to-day affairs of all WFI activities on Wednesday, December 27. Bhupinder Singh Bajwa will be heading the committee, of which MM Somaya and Manjusha Kanwar are members.
A letter, signed by PT Usha, the chief of the IOC in response to form the ad hoc committee, read, “The Indian Olympic Association has recently become aware that the recently appointed President and officials of the WFI have made arbitrary decisions in violation of their own constitutional provisions and against the principles of good governance espoused by the IOC and further without following due process overturned the rulings of the IOA appointed ad hoc committee.”
The development comes after Sports Minister Anurag Thakur wrote to the IOA to form the ad hoc committee. However, earlier this year, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) was governed by an ad hoc committee, and once again, WFI will be governed by this committee.
“Since Wrestling is an Olympic sport and WFI is an affiliate member of the Indian Olympic Association (IA) and taking note of the compelling current situation arising out of the influence and control of the WFI’s former office bearers, serious concerns have arisen about the governance and integrity of the WFI. This requires for immediate and stringent corrective measures to uphold the principles of good governance in sports organisations, and thus, now it becomes incumbent on the part of 10A to make suitable arrangements for the interim period for managing the affairs of WFI so that sportspersons of wrestling discipline do not suffer in any manner and the principle of good governance in the sports body do not get jeopardised,” the letter from the Sports Ministry to the IOA read.
The Sports Ministry suspended the WFI on December 24. The ministry had argued that the newly elected panel led by Sanjay Singh was still under the influence of former members who were suspended after allegations of sexual harassment.
“In view of the above, it is requested that an Ad-Hoc Committee may be constituted by the IOA to manage and control the affairs of WFI, as per the defined role of NSFs in the National Sports Development Code of India-2011, including the selection of athletes, making entries for the participation of sportspersons in international events, holding of sporting activities, etc. with immediate effect, until further orders,” it added.
The WFI elections were held earlier this month, and former president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s loyalist, Sanjay Singh, won the elections by a huge margin. After Sanjay Singh was named as the new President of WFI, top Indian wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat returned their awrads to the government and showed their support to Saksi Malik, who quit wrestling after the Brij Bhushan Singh Loyalist was elected as the new WFI president.
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