The Wrestling Federation of India's (WFI) suspension has been lifted with immediate effect by the United World Wrestling. UWW imposed provisional suspension on WFI on August 23 last year due to its failure to hold timely elections.
The UWW Disciplinary Chamber found ample justification to impose the provisional suspension on WFI, given that the federation's situation persisted for at least six months.
The UWW Bureau convened on February 9 to review the suspension and various other matters. After thorough consideration of all factors and information available, the Bureau opted to revoke the suspension under certain conditions:
Imposes Conditions for Resumption
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) must hold new elections for its Athletes' Commission. Candidates for this commission must either be current athletes or have retired within the last four years. Only athletes are eligible to vote. These elections must occur during trials or any senior national championships where feasible, but no later than July 1, 2024.
The WFI must promptly provide written assurances to the United World Wrestling (UWW) that all wrestlers will be fairly considered for participation in all WFI events, without any bias or discrimination. This commitment extends to athletes who previously raised concerns about alleged misconduct by the former President.
UWW will continue to communicate with the wrestlers and will keep in contact with them in the upcoming days.
This signifies that Indian wrestlers will have the opportunity to represent their country's flag at the next UWW event. During the suspension period, Indian wrestlers were required to compete under the UWW flag.
Sports Ministry Suspended WFI
The Sports Ministry suspended the WFI body three days after newly elected WFI president Sanjay Singh announced the hosting of the U-15 and U-20 nationals at Nandini Nagar in the Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh by the end of last year.
In response, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) appointed Bhupinder Singh Bajwa as chairman of the newly formed ad-hoc committee to oversee the day-to-day operations of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) with immediate effect.
Following Singh's victory in the WFI elections, Sakshi Malik, emotionally overwhelmed, tearfully announced her retirement from wrestling during a press conference in the national capital upon leaving the venue. Subsequently, Olympic medalist Bajrang Punia and World Championship medalist Vinesh Phogat also relinquished their government honours.
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