Sports Ministry suspends newly-elected WFI for not following rules

Sports Ministry on Sunday suspended Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) till furr orders after newly-elected body me a "hasty announcement" of organising U-15 and U-20 nationals "without following due procedure and not giving sufficient notice to wrestlers" for preparations.

ministry also said new body was working under "complete control of former (WFI) office-bearers", which was not in conformity with National Sports Code.

WFI elections were held on December 21 with former president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's loyalist, Sanjay Singh, and his panel winning polls by big margins.

" new body has not followed WFI constitution. Federation stands suspended till furr orders. WFI will not be taking care of day to day activities of wrestling. y need to follow due process and rules," a sports ministry official told PTI.

Top wrestler Bajrang Punia, who along with Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, h led agitation against Brij Bhushan h returned his Pma Shri award to government on Friday in protest over Sanjay Singh, who is a Brij Bhushan loyalist, becoming WFI President.

This was a day after Sakshi Malik quit wrestling for same reason.

source furr explained reasons for WFI suspension.

"Sanjay Kumar Singh, newly-elected president of WFI announced on December 21, day he was elected as president, that U-15 and U-20 nationals for Wrestling will take place in Nandini Nagar, Gonda (UP) before end of this year.

"This announcement is hasty, without giving sufficient notice to wrestlers who are to take part in said nationals and without following provisions of constitution of WFI," said source.

"As per clause 3 (e) of preamble of constitution of WFI, object of WFI, among ors, is to arrange holding of Senior, Junior and Sub Junior National Championships as per UWW Rules at places selected by Executive Committee," said source.

source ded that new body h started functioning in same premises (Brij Bhushan's official bunglow) from where previous office-bearers operated wherein allegedly sexual harassment of players have been alleged.

"Newly-elected body appears to be in complete control of former office-bearers in complete disregard to Sports Code.

" business of Federation is being run from premises controlled by former office-bearers. Which is also alleged premises wherein sexual harassment of players have been alleged and present (ly) court is hearing matter.

" decisions me by newly-elected executive body of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) demonstrate a blatant disregard for established legal and procedural norms, violating both WFI's constitutional provisions and National Sports Development Code," source said.

Several top wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik and World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat have levelled allegations of sexual harassment against Brij Bhushan and case is being heard in Delhi High Court.

source ded that all se actions by new body are contrary to established norms of fair and transparent governance.

" actions smack of complete arbitrariness on part of President, which is against settled principles of good governance and devoid of transparency and due process. herence to governance norms is vital for ensuring fair play, transparency and accountability. re are crucial to built trust among athletes, stakeholders, and public," said source.

source ded that decision to hold national championships should have been done in a procedural manner by informing executive committee, which was not done.

"Such decisions (holding of nationals) are to be taken by Executive Committee, before which agendas are required to be placed for consideration. As per Article XI of WFI constitution under Heing 'Notices and Quorum for Meetings', minimum notice period for EC meeting is 15 clear days and quorum is of 1/3rd of representatives.

"Even for Emergency EC meeting, minimum notice period is 7 clear days with quorum requirement of 1/3rd of representatives.

"Furr, in terms of Article X (d) of Constitution of WFI, it is Secretary General of WFI, who has been me responsible for carrying out general business of Federation, keeping minutes of meetings, maintaining all records of Federation, calling meetings of General Council and Executive Committee.

"It seems Secretary General has not been involved in said meeting of EC, which was held without any notice or quorum," source ded.

Newly-elected WFI secretary-general, Prem Chand Lochab, h written to Sanjay Singh a day after elections that a "few states have objected to rescheduling and relocating of age group and junior Nationals".

"In this regard, no regular meeting of Executive Committee of WFI as per its Constitution has been conducted after elections for newly elected Executive Council held on 21-12-2023." "In view of above, it is felt that grievances of state federations are genuine and may be considered and U20 and U15 National Wrestling Championships 2023 scheduled at Nandini Nagar, Gonda from December 28-30 may be postponed," Lochab, former Railway Sports Control Board secretary h written in his letter. PTI AM AM AT AT