Indian wrestling teetered on the brink of a deeper crisis when Sanjay Singh, chairman of the suspended WFI, declared on Monday that they will soon host the national championships and stressed that they did not condone the suspension of their newly elected body by the Sports Ministry, nor the ad hoc panel. Three days after the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) held its polls, the ministry suspended the sports body on December 24, citing several rule violations. At the request of the government, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) subsequently formed a three-member organization. panel, headed by Bhupender Singh Bajwa, to manage the day-to-day affairs of the body. The other members of the committee are former hockey player MM Somaya and ex-shuttler Manjusha Kanwar.
The ad hoc panel announced that it will organize the senior national championships in Jaipur from February 2 to 5.
However, Sanjay remained combative and said that they will not cooperate with the ad hoc panel and organize the Nationals.
“We were democratically elected. The Returning Officer had signed the papers, how can they ignore that. We do not recognize this ad hoc panel,” Sanjay told PTI.
When asked how they will organize the Nationals, he said: “We do not recognize this suspension. The WFI is working smoothly, we are working.” “How will they (ad-hoc panel) organize Nationals if our state associations are not willing to send the teams. We will organize our National Championship soon. We will convene the Executive Committee meeting soon. The announcement of the EC meeting will be in a day or two and we will get the Nationals organized before they do. If the WFI continues to organize its own Nationals, the crisis will take a turn.
“We have sent our explanation to the ministry that we have not violated any rules. We are still waiting for an answer. We'll wait another day or two. If they don't want to do business with us, we're not interested. .
“Our federation does not recognize this suspension.” Indian wrestling has witnessed an unprecedented power struggle in the past year. In protest against Sanjay, who is a close aide of sexual harassment, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who became WFI president, accused Bajrang Punia of getting his Padma Shri back and Vinesh Phogat returning her Arjuna Award and Khel Ratna.
Sakshi Malik had retired from wrestling the day Sanjay won the WFI president election. PTI AT AT AH AH
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