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Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik penned an open letter to the United World Wrestling (UWW) on February 15, just two days after the decision to lift the suspension of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). In their letter, the athletes raised concern that the reinstatement of the WFI could expose wrestlers to potential harassment from certain elected members of the body.
The lifting of the ban on the WFI means that Indian wrestlers can now represent their country in international competitions under the national flag once again. It's worth noting that the UWW suspended the WFI in August last year due to a delay in conducting general body elections.
Bajrang and Sakshi urged the UWW to take appropriate actions against the WFI, alleging that the newly-elected president, Sanjay Singh, had disregarded directives from the Sports Ministry. They highlighted that the Singh-led WFI had failed to comply with the directives issued by the ad-hoc committee appointed to oversee the WFI's operations following its suspension by the Sports Ministry in December.
It's worth noting that shortly after Sanjay Singh assumed the role of WFI president, the Sports Ministry suspended the newly-elected WFI general body. This action was prompted by Singh's close association with former president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who faced allegations of sexual harassment involving female wrestlers.
However, the Sanjay Singh-led elected body has consistently dismissed the Sports Ministry's decision.
"This decision has again put Indian wrestlers under threat and harassment by WFI members. This is to bring to your notice that this WFI was suspended by the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MYAS) dated 27 December 2023 due to serious anomalies after a couple of days of taking charge," Bajrang and Vinesh wrote in their open letter.
Open letter to UWW members
"MYAS also formed an Ad Hoc Committee to oversee and conduct wrestling activities. Even after this suspension, WFI members took blatant decisions to conduct sporting activities without any recognition from sports ministries under the same leadership. Wrestlers all over India have lost trust and belief in the functioning of Wrestling Federation of India. Because of this MYAS took diligent steps and issued a circular dated 7th January 2024.
"Even after this they have publicly issued statements against wrestlers and Ad Hoc Committee. This elected body is still being run by same individual and their allies who serious charges against them and MYAS also took the same in consideration while suspending the body. For your reference we have attached the mentioned letters.
"We wrestlers request you kindly support Indian athletes against unfair practices and harassment through various means. Indian wrestlers are looking up to you for justice and their rights to fair and safe play.
"We are hopeful that you will consider our request to support clean and fair sports activities in India and take necessary actions against the WFI," it added.
WHY WAS WFI SUSPENSION LIFTED?
In its statement on February 13, the UWW lifted the suspension of WFI, citing the completion of elections in December. However, it requested written assurances from the WFI that it would not engage in discriminatory practices when selecting players for international tournaments.
"The WFI has to immediately provide UWW with written guarantees that all wrestlers will be considered for participation without any discrimination in all WFI events, in particular trials for the Olympic Games and any other major national and international events. This non-discrimination includes the three athletes who protested against alleged wrongdoings by the former President," UWW said in its statement.
The WFI has been embroiled in a dispute with the ad-hoc committee, leading to separate national championships being held by each entity. This has confused the wrestling community.
Sakshi made allegations that counterfeit certificates were being distributed to wrestlers during the national championships organised by the suspended WFI body.
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