Wrestling Federation Of India Suspended
As the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) failed to hold the required elections, the United World Wrestling (UWW) has indefinitely suspended the federation’s membership. The WFI’s elections have been severely delayed due to a number of controversies that have arisen. Elections for the federation, which oversees wrestling in India, were planned for June 2023. However, a series of demonstrations by Indian wrestlers and legal lawsuits from several state units have caused the polls to be continuously postponed.
Elections in WFI
On August 12, there were to be elections for the 15 places on the WFI’s governing board. Four candidates submitted their nominations for the position of president at the Olympic Bhawan in New Delhi on Monday, including close friend and outgoing Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s Sanjay Singh from Uttar Pradesh.
From the side of Brij Bhushan, Darshan Lal of the Chandigarh wrestling organization was proposed as general secretary, and SP Deswal of Uttarakhand as treasurer.
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Wrestling Federation Of India Suspended twice
The WFI was suspended twice—first in January, then again in May—after India’s top wrestlers challenged its operation and claimed that Brij Bhushan, the organization’s then president, had harassed female wrestlers. WFI is currently run on a day-to-day basis by an ad hoc committee that was established by the Indian Olympic Association and is chaired by Bhupender Singh Bajwa.
Notably, the United World Wrestling, the sport’s highest authority, threatened to suspend WFI if the elections were postponed.
Both Maharashtra and Tripura won’t have any representatives in the elections because the Returning Officer ruled that both factions from the former were “ineligible” to make claims, while Tripura has been disaffiliated since 2016. Tensions are going on in the wrestling federation of the nation as the Chief of the institution is accused of assault of women wrestlers of India.
