NEW DELHI: The
Sports Ministry
suspended the
Wrestling Federation of India
(
WFI
) on Sunday until further notice following an abrupt announcement of the national championships by the newly-elected body.
The WFI, under the leadership of
Sanjay Singh
and his panel, declared plans to organize the U-15 and U-20 nationals without providing adequate notice for wrestlers to prepare.
"Sanjay Kumar Singh, newly-elected president of WFI announced on 21.12.2023, the day he was elected as president, that U-15 and U-20 nationals for
wrestling
will take place in Nandini Nagar, Gonda (UP), before the end of this year. This announcement is hasty, without giving sufficient notice to wrestlers who are to take part in the said nationals and without following the provisions of the constitution of WFI," said a ministry source.
"As per clause 3 (e) of preamble of constitution of WFI, object of the WFI, among others, is to arrange holding of Senior, Junior and Sub Junior National Championships as per UWW Rules at places selected by the Executive Committee."
WFI has been instructed to suspend all its activities till further orders.
The suspension comes in the aftermath of the WFI elections held on December 21, where Sanjay and his supporters, aligned with former president
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh
, secured significant victories in the polls.
"The new body has not followed the WFI constitution. We have not terminated the federation but suspended till further orders. They just need to follow the due process and the rules," a sports ministry official told PTI.
As per Article XI of the WFI constitution under the Heading ‘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.
Further, in terms of the Article X (d) of Constitution of WFI, it is the secretary general of WFI, who has been made responsible for carrying out the general business of the federation.
It seems the secretary general has not been involved in the said meeting of EC, which was held without any notice or quorum, and the newly-elected body appears to be in complete control of former office bearers in complete disregard to the Sports Code.
Furthermore, the business of the federation is being run from the premises controlled by former office bearers, which is also the alleged premises wherein sexual harassment of the players have been alleged and at present the court is hearing the matter.
Also, the UWW, which is the international body for wrestling, is yet to issue official communication lifting the suspension of WFI.
(With PTI inputs)
English (US) ·