Just three days after Sanjay Kumar Singh was elected as the new president of the Wrestling Federation of India, the Union Sports Ministry has suspended the body until further orders.
This comes after Singh's hasty December 21 announcement that U-15 and U-20 nationals for wrestling will be held in Nandini Nagar in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda before the end of the year. Reports said the announcement did not give the wrestlers sufficient notice. The official release by the Sports Ministry said the WFI showed "complete disregard for the existing rules and regulations."
"Sanjay Kumar Singh, newly-elected president of WFI announced on 21.12.2023, the day he was elected as president, that U-15 and U-20 nationals for Wrestling will take place in Nandini Nagar, Gonda (UP) before the end of this year. This announcement is hasty, without giving sufficient notice to wrestlers who are to take part in the said nationals and without following the provisions of the constitution of WFI," said an official statement.
"As per clause 3 (e) of preamble of constitution of WFI, object of the WFI, among others, is to arrange holding of Senior, Junior and Sub Junior National Championships as per UWW Rules at places selected by the Executive Committee," it added.
Reacting to the development, Singh told reporters, “I was on a flight. I have not received any letter yet. First, let me see the letter, only then I will comment. I heard that some activity has been stopped."
Singh is a close aide of former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Singh who had to resign over sexual harassment allegations raised by female wrestlers. The latest development comes two days after Olympic medal winner Sakshi Malik quit wrestling on December 22. "We slept for 40 days on the roads and a lot of people from several parts of the country came to support us. If Brij Bhushan Singh's business partner and a close aide is elected as the president of WFI, I quit wrestling," she had said.
Another wrestler, Bajrang Punia, had left his Padma Shri outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence in protest of Singh's appointment.
The ministry stated that the newly elected body seemed to be in complete control of the previous office bearers. "Newly elected body appears to be in complete control of former office bearers in complete disregard to the Sports Code," the ministry said.
Meanwhile, a Sports Ministry source quoted by PTI said, "The new body has not followed the WFI constitution. We have not terminated the Federation but suspended till further orders. They just need to follow the due process and the rules."