- Monday, November 25, 2024
The UWW had on April 28 warned that it could suspend the WFI if the deadline to hold elections is not honoured.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA’S wrestling federation has been suspended by United World Wrestling (UWW), the international governing body for the sport, for not conducting elections on time and it is due to this development that Indian grapplers will not be able to compete at the World Championships in Serbia, Belgrade next month under their country’s Tricolour.
The Indian wrestlers will have to compete as ‘neutral athletes’ at the Olympic-qualifying World Championships starting September 16 as an ad-hoc panel, led by Bhupender Singh Bajwa, did not honour the 45-day deadline for conducting the Wrestling Federation of India’s (WFI) elections.
The Indian wrestlers’ performances will not be counted as India’s.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had appointed the ad-hoc panel on April 27 and the committee was supposed to hold elections within 45 days.
The UWW had on April 28 warned that it could suspend the WFI if the deadline to hold elections is not honoured.
The letter, which was also marked to the IOA and the Indian sports ministry, had reminded that it has already taken “a measure in this situation by reallocating the Asian Championship planned in New Delhi earlier this year”
The championship was moved out of the country due to the controversy surrounding the outgoing WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has been accused of sexually abusing several women wrestlers. The case is already in a Delhi court.
“The UWW communicated to the ad-hoc panel on Wednesday night that WFI has been suspended for not holding elections to its executive committee,” an IOA source told PTI.
Gian Singh, a member of the ad-hoc panel, told the news outlet that they are being kept in the dark by Bajwa on the related developments and that they are not part of decision making anymore.
“I have also heard that WFI has been suspended but I can’t tell you what the ad-hoc panel will do now. Mr Bajwa does not call us for discussion any more. I did not even know how the criteria were finalised for the Worlds trials,” he told PTI.
“Mr Bajwa is too busy, it seems,” he added, indicating that the ad-hoc panel has failed to properly manage issues at hand. Bajwa was contacted for a comment but he did not return calls or respond to text messages.
Originally, the WFI was to hold elections on May 7 but the Indian sports ministry had declared the process as null and void. The elections have been delayed multiple times with multiple disgruntled and disaffiliated state bodies moving the court, seeking the right to participate in the polls.
Indian wrestling has seen turbulent times over the past many months as Singh, who is also a parliamentarian from prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, was accused of sexually harassing a number of women athletes. Some of the country’s top wrestlers, including Olympic medal winners, staged protests on the streets for days demanding strict action against Singh.
(With PTI inputs)
