WFI chief Sanjay Singh says federation can 'explore legal options' to get suspension lifted

Reacting the Sports Ministry’s suspension of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Sunday, president Sanjay Singh said they would approach the Centre to reverse its decision by offering an explanation over its recent decisions.

Singh, who had been elected WFI president following elections conducted on 21 December, added that they would also seek legal options if the suspension wasn’t lifted even after having a word with the Ministry.

The Anurag Thakur-led Sports Ministry on Sunday suspended the WFI until further notice citing the Singh-led Executive Committee’s recent decision to conduct U-15 and U-20 nationals as a “hasty announcement” and one that was taken “without following due procedure and not giving sufficient notice to wrestlers”.

The WFI had announced that the Youth Nationals would be taking place in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda, the native place of former president and Bharatiya Janata Party MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh who has been charged with sexually harassing several female wrestlers.

“We are seeking time from the sports minister and request that the suspension be lifted. If the issue is not resolved through dialogue, we could explore legal options,” Singh told PTI.

“We will explain that we have followed rules in taking decisions. We will present the proofs. Whatever decisions were taken, were taken by consensus. It was not my personal decision. 24 state associations had given affidavits and we have got e-mails, we have everything in writing,” the sports administrator added.

#WATCH | On suspension of newly elected body of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) by Union Sports Ministry, Sanjay Singh (who was elected as new WFI president) says, ” When New Federation was formed, he (Brijbhushan Singh) was sent off and today he told that he has retired from… pic.twitter.com/jJAmPZT1fK

— ANI (@ANI) December 24, 2023

After suspending the WFI, the Sports Ministry would subsequently write to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) led by former sprinter PT Usha, asking them to setup an ad-hoc panel to run the every day affairs at the federation on an interim basis.

Singh, a Brij Bhushan loyalist who had previously served as the vice-president of the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association, had earlier defeated rival and former wrestler Anita Sheoran by 40 votes to seven to be elected as the new president of the WFI. Singh’s faction additionally won 13 of the 15 posts that were contested in the polls.

The election results, which were announced on the same day, was met with widespread outrage from the wrestling community, especially from star wrestlers Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia who, along with Vinesh Phogat, were the faces of the protest against Brij Bhushan earlier this year. While Malik promptly hung up her boots to signal the end of her career, Punia announced his decision to return his Padma Shri award.

Both Malik and Punia, however, welcomed the Centre’s suspension of the Singh-led WFI on Sunday. While Malik described it as the “first step towards something good”. Punia, however, clarified that he wouldn’t take back his Padma Shri award until “justice is delivered”.

Meanwhile, Brij Bhushan — a BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Kaiserganj — maintained he had little to do with the WFI’s functioning and that Sanjay isn’t a relative of his.

Brij Bhushan had been barred from contesting the polls after being charged with sexual harassment and his family members too were prohibited from submitting their names as contestants. Brij Bhushan was forced to step down from the role in April at the height of the wrestler’s protests, with the entire Executive Committee getting dissolved in the process and getting replaced by an ad-hoc panel appointed by the IOA.