Union Sports Ministry suspends newly elected WFI body

Union Sports Ministry suspended the newly elected body of Wrestling Federation of India on December 24.

The decision comes after the newly elected president Sanjay Singh announced U-15 and U-20 nationals to take place in Nandini Nagar, Gonda (UP) before the end of this year.

Sanjay Singh, a close aide of deposed former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, was on Thursday elected as the new president of the Wrestling Federation of India.

The Sports Ministry, in an official release, stated that the announcement for national competitions was premature and lacked due process. Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections took place on December 21, after numerous postponements earlier in the year. Sanjay Singh's panel triumphed in the election, securing a 33-vote lead over the rival panel.

Singh, a former member of the WFI's executive council, has been serving as the joint secretary for the national federation since 2019. The WFI elections, initially slated for August 12, were postponed when the Punjab and Haryana High Court extended the stay on the elections to September 25 during an August hearing on a petition. The federation, tasked with supervising wrestling in the country, initially planned to hold the elections in June of this year.

Also read : Assam: Three youths suspected to be ULFA-I linkmen injured in police firing in Tinsukia