Vinod Tomar, assistant secretary of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), was suspended on Saturday. by the Union Ministry of Sports. The suspension came following the protest by the wrestlers against the wrestling federation and its president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Tomar’s presence will be “detrimental to the development of this high-priority discipline,” the ministry stated in a letter shared by PTI.
The letter further said, “The Ministry has taken note of the reports about the functioning of the WFI, including the role of Shri Vinod Tomar, and, has reasons to believe that his continued presence will be detrimental to the development of this high-priority discipline.”
The ministry decided to suspend him “with immediate effect”, to ensure the proper functioning of WFI. In addition, the ministry has ordered the WFI to halt all ongoing activities with immediate effect, including the Ranking Tournament in Brij Bhushan’s hometown of Gonda, Uttar Pradesh.
In a statement to ANI, earlier on Saturday, Tomar claimed that the wrestlers who staged a dharna at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, and accused the WFI president of financial irregularities and sexual harassment, had not provided any proof to back up their claims.
The allegations are baseless. There is nothing like that. It has been 3-4 days, and they still haven’t produced any evidence. I have been associated with them for the past 12 years, and I haven’t seen anything as such: WFI Asst Secy Vinod Tomar on wrestlers’ protest & allegations pic.twitter.com/J0uHUtyeXU
— ANI (@ANI) January 21, 2023
The suspended WFI official said that when ANI approached him to seek his response to the development, that is how he learned of it. He denied receiving any information regarding his removal.
Tomar was removed a day after Anurag Thakur, the Union Minister of Sports, announced the creation of an oversight committee to look into the accusations made against Brij Bhushan and his organization by some of the best wrestlers in the nation, including Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, and Ravi Dahiya. The committee will have the authority to decide on any issues relating to Indian wrestling and will also be in charge of managing the federation’s daily operations.
In a press release, the ministry said it has communicated to WFI that in view of the Government’s decision to appoint an Oversight Committee to investigate the various allegations raised by athletes, WFI will suspend all ongoing activities with immediate effect.
It added, “In view of the direction to suspend all activities immediately, the Sports Ministry has asked WFI to also cancel the ongoing Ranking Tournament in Gonda, UP.” In this connection, the ministry has additionally directed WFI to refund the entry fees that were collected from the attendees for the ongoing event.
Earlier, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh had received a deadline from the Ministry of Sports on Thursday, January 19, to resign from his position, after protesting wrestlers met Sports Minister Anurag Thakur at his home. The wrestlers decided to terminate their protest after the Sports Ministry promised to take measures and conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations.
The Indian Olympic Association has established a seven-member committee under the leadership of M C Mary Kom to look into the allegations against Brij Bhushan before the wrestlers decided to end their protest. Along with Yogeshwar Dutt and Mary Kom, the panel also includes Sahdev Yadav, president of the Indian Weightlifting Federation (IWLF), and former archer Dola Banerjee. Former shuttler and IOA joint secretary Alaknanda Ashok will serve as the group’s vice chairperson, the committee also includes two advocates, Talish Ray and Shlok Chandra.
The decision was made during the IOA’s emergency Executive Council meeting, which was also attended by IOA President PT Usha, joint secretary Kalyan Chaubey, Olympic bronze medalist Yogeshwar Dutt, and champion shooter Abhinav Bindra.
