Indian Olympic Association Forms Ad Hoc Committee For Wrestling Body ((image @niiravmodi)

Indian Olympic Association (IOC) formed a three member temporary committee to oversee the affairs of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Wednesday. It was on Sunday, the Ministry of Sports has suspended the newly elected wrestling body amid the protest of several wrestlers.

The current ad hoc committee is headed by Bhupinder Singh Bajwa. MM Somaya and Manjusha Kanwar are the other two members. Olympic Association formed the committee under the directive of Sports Ministry. Notably, Bhupinder Singh Bajwa has led the previous ad-hoc committee from August 2023 till December.

The newly appointed committee will supervise various tasks and activities of the WFI which includes selection of players, sending names of players for international tournaments, organising sporting events, supervising, and managing bank accounts, reports India Today.

When WFI general elections conducted on December 21, Sanjay Singh, close associate of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, was elected as the new president of the WFI. The appointment of Sanjay Singh was opposed by several wrestlers including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia. As a mark of protest, Sakshi Malik announced her quitting of the sport, and Bajrang Punia and Virender Singh Yadav, returned Padma Shri.

While suspending the new WFI panel the Sports ministry has argued that it has been formed by completely ignoring the existing rules and regulations. Besides, in a strongly worded statement, Ministry said: “the business of the Federation is being run from the premises controlled by former office bearers…which is also alleged premises wherein sexual harassment of the players have been alleged”.