On Sunday (24th December), the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports wrote to the Indian Olympic Association to form an ad hoc committee to replace the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). This decision came after the union sports ministry suspended all activities of the newly-elected body of the WFI. The ministry instructed the WFI not to carry out any activities after it announced junior national championships in violation of norms.
The letter written by Tarun Pareek, Under Secretary of the Union Sports Ministry, to the IOA president said, “I am directed to refer to this Ministry’s order of even number dated 24.12.2023 abstaining the newly elected Executive Committee of the WFI from administering and managing the day-to-day activities of the Federation. Since Wrestling is an Olympic sport and WFI is an affiliate member of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and taking note of the compelling current situation arising out of the influence and control of the WFI’s former office bearers, serious concerns have arisen about the governance and integrity of the WFI.”
Sports ministry writes to IOC – asks it to form ad hoc commiittee in place of WFI pic.twitter.com/EjjrIld18E
— pallavi ghosh (@_pallavighosh) December 24, 2023
It further said, “This requires immediate and stringent corrective measures to uphold the principles of good governance in sports organizations, and thus, now it becomes incumbent on the part of IOA to make suitable arrangements for the interim period for managing the affairs of WFI so that sportspersons of wrestling discipline do not suffer in any manner and the principle of good governance in the sports body do not get jeopardised.”
The letter added, “In view of the above, it is requested that an Ad-Hoc Committee may be constituted by the IOA to manage and control the affairs of WF1, as per the defined role of NSFs in the National Sports Development Code of India-2011, including the selection of athletes, making entries for the participation of sportspersons in international events, holding of sporting activities, etc. with immediate effect, until further orders.”
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) will now establish an interim committee to manage the daily activities of Indian wrestlers. Reportedly the committee will be formed in the next 48 hours. This development follows the Union Sports Ministry’s suspension of all activities of the newly elected WFI president, Sanjay Singh, and his administration, for announcing Under 16 and Under 20 national championships in UP’s Gonda without giving a mandatory notice period to state federations. The Ministry criticised their decision to organise national championships from 28 December as “hasty”, saying that it violated provisions of WFI constitution.
This is not the first time that the sports ministry has asked the IOC to form an ad hoc committee to replace the WFI. In April 2023, the sports ministry asked the Indian Olympic Association to constitute an ad-hoc committee to conduct the polls of WFI and also manage the sports body till the elections of a new body. IOA executive council (EC) member Bhupender Singh Bajwa and former shooter Suma Shirur were appointed members of the committee which was formed on 4th May. Former Jammu and Kashmir High Court Chief Justice Mahesh Mittal Kumar was appointed as returning officer for the WFI elections.
Notably, the newly elected WFI cancelled all decisions of the ad hoc committee on Thursday, hours after winning the elections. This included the ad hoc committee’s decision to host the senior National Championship in Jaipur, and a change in the Olympic selection criteria. The Bajwa-chaired ad-hoc body had announced that the Olympic quotas won by the wrestlers will not belong to individuals but to the country and the quota-winning wrestler will also have to undergo selection trials to book his or her place in the national team for the 2024 Paris Games.
It is not known whether IOA will reappoint the same ad hoc committee or new members will be chosen. The WFI has vowed to challenge the ministry’s decision to suspend its activities. Moreover, WFI remains suspended by international wrestling body United World Wrestling for not holding elections withing given deadline. Therefore, another legal battle is expected, which will require the committee to run the affairs of WFI for a substantial period.
