New Delhi, (Samajweekly) The newly-appointed ad-hoc committee for the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Friday moved the WFI office out of the residence of former President and BJP Member of Parliament (MP), Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh here.
The Sports Ministry while suspending the managing committee of the WFI last Sunday for flouting rules, had also raised objections over the federation’s office being in the official residence of the MP from Uttar Pradesh.
People who visited the WFI office at Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s residence on Friday saw a notice posted there informing them that the federation’s office has been moved to new premises.
The circular read, “Wrestling Federation of India has been moved to the new address, 101, Hari Nagar near Ashram Chowk”
The recently elected WFI panel led by Sanjay Singh, a known aide of the former president, has regularly claimed that Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has nothing to do with the federation.
But the fact the WFI office is being run from Brij Bhushan’s residence was pointed out by the Sports Ministry, which also claimed that the said premises is where the alleged sexual harassment of the player had happened.
The Ministry also indicated that the fact that the WFI office is being run from Brij Bhushan’s residence also proves that WFI is working under the “complete control of former WFI office-bearers”.
The moving of the WFI office from Brij Bhushan’s office seems an attempt to further disassociate the federation from his influence.
Led by three top wrestlers — Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malai and Vinesh Phogat, many wrestlers had sat on a more than two-month-long protest in Delhi, before they were forcefully removed from the Jantar Mantar by Delhi Police.
After a few battles in the courts at various levels, the case currently is in court.
Sanjay Singh, the newly elected WFI President, whose panel was suspended by the Sports Ministry after he announced that the U-15 and U-12 women’s nationals would be organised in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh.
The Union sports ministry, while suspending the panel, had termed this decision “hasty” and said that it was taken “without following the provisions of the constitution of WFI”.
“The decisions made by the newly elected executive body of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) demonstrate a blatant disregard for the established legal and procedural norms, violating both the WFI’s constitutional provisions and the National Sports Development Code,” the ministry has said in a letter.
On December 21, following the suspension of the newly elected administration of WFI, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) constituted a three-member ad-hoc committee chaired by Bhupinder Singh Bajwa, who holds the position of president of the Wushu Association of India. The other two members include Olympic gold medallist in hockey, MM Somaya and former international badminton player Manjusha Kanwar.
On December 21, soon after Sanjay Singh was elected President of WFI, 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik announced quitting Wrestling followed by Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat returning their Padma Shri and Khel Ratna and Arjun Awards, respectively.
