The Union Sports Ministry on Sunday instructed the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to form an ad-hoc committee to manage and control the affairs of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), as per a source from the ministry.
This comes after the ministry suspended the entire federation on Sunday. In a major decision, coming in light of fresh protests by star wrestlers Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia over the election of an aide of deposed WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh as the new president of the wrestling federation, the Union Sports Ministry on Sunday suspended the sport’s premier governing body in the country along with all its office-bearers.
The decision came close on the heels of newly elected WFI president Sanjay Singh announcing the hosting of the U-15 and U-20 nationals at Nandini Nagar in the Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh by the end of the year.
Earlier, Olympian Sakshi Malik announced her retirement from wrestling at an emotional press briefing, claiming that the Centre went back on its word to not install an aide of Brij Bhushan as an office-bearer of the wrestling federation.
Later, voicing his misgivings over the election of Sanjay Singh as the new WFI chief, fellow Olympian Bajrang Punia returned his Padma Shri in protest.
The star wrestlers earlier led a protest by wrestlers who came out against Brij Bhushan, accusing him of sexual harassment.
“This announcement is hasty, without giving sufficient notice to wrestlers who are to take part in the said nationals and without following the provisions of the constitution of WFI. As per clause 3 (e) of the preamble of the constitution of WFI, the object of the WFI, among others, is to arrange the holding of Senior, Junior and Sub Junior National Championships as per UWW Rules at places selected by the Executive Committee,” the Sports Ministry stated in a release on Sunday.
“Such decisions are to be taken by the Executive Committee, before which agendas are required to be placed for consideration. As per Article XI of the WFI constitution under the Heading ‘Notices and Quorum for Meetings’, the minimum notice period for EC meetings is 15 clear days and the quorum is of 1/3rd of representatives. Even for Emergency EC meetings, the minimum notice
period is 7 clear days with a quorum requirement of 1/3rd of representatives,” the ministry added.
“Further, in terms of Article X (d) of the Constitution of WFI, it is the Secretary General of WFI, who has been made responsible for carrying out the general business of the Federation, keeping the minutes of the meetings, maintaining all the records of the Federation, calling the meetings of the General Council and the Executive Committee. It seems the Secretary-General has not been involved in the said meeting of EC, which was held without any notice or quorum,” it stated further.
“The decisions made by the newly elected executive body of the WFI demonstrate a blatant disregard for the established legal and procedural norms, violating both the WFI’s constitutional provisions and the National Sports Development Code.
The newly elected body appeared to be in complete control of former office bearers in complete disregard to the Sports Code. The business of the Federation is being run from the premises controlled by former office bearers,” the ministry added.
I’m done with wrestling: Ex-WFI chief Brij Bhushan
New Delhi: Former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Sunday said he is “done” with the sport and the newly-elected body will now take care of it as he has many more responsibilities to look into, including next year’s Lok Sabha elections.
Brij Bhushan’s comments came soon after the Sports Ministry suspended the WFI till further orders after the new body made a “hasty announcement” of organising the U-15 andU-20 nationals “without following due procedure and not giving sufficient notice to wrestlers” for preparations.
The ministry also said the new body was working under “complete control of former (WFI) office-bearers”, which was not in conformity with the National Sports Code.
The WFI elections were held on December 21 with Brij Bhushan’s loyalist, Sanjay Singh, and his panel winning the polls by big margins.
“Whatever has to be done with regards to wrestling in India, it has to be done by the new elected body,” Brij Bhushan told PTI.
“I have nothing to do with the sport now. I have other responsibilities to focus now. I will be away from politics of this sport,” he added. Brij Bhushan is a sitting BJP MP from Kaiserganj in Uttar Pradesh.
The top wrestlers of the country — Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik — had led the agitation against Brij Bhushan after accusing him of sexual harassment against female grapplers.
Bajrang had returned his Padma Shri award to the government on Friday in protest over Sanjay Singh’s election as WFI chief. On Thursday, Sakshi Malik quit wrestling for the same reason.
