Newly-Formed WFI Suspended By Sports Ministry Days After Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's Close Aide Sanjay Singh Elected As President

Sanjay Singh won the recently held Wrestling Federation of India elections and became the president of the body. He is close aide of the former chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh who had to leave the chair after accusation of sexual harassment by female wrestlers.

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and Sanjay Singh. (Image: ANI)

A few days after Sanjay Singh was named as the new president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), the Sports Ministry has suspended the newly-formed body. In an official release by Ministry on December 24, it was mentioned that WFI body 'had shown complete disregard for the existing rules and regulations'. The decision has come after Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia tried to return his Padma Shri award to the PM Narendra Modi while another Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik announced her retirement from the sport after Sanjay was elected as the chairman of WFI.

The wrestlers said that nothing changed after the elections were held as the same set of 'corrupt' people returned to power. In January 2023, the wrestlers sat in a protest for the ouster of the then WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh as many female athletes accused him of sexual harassment among other charges. Sanjay happens to be a close aide of Brij Bhushan, who said that his 'Dabdaba' (dominance) is intact in wrestling after the new appointment.

Sakshi, in a press conference held after the election results, announced her retirement from the sport, keeping her wrestling boots on the table. She also made a post on social media website X, questioning why Gonda was picked as the venue to host the wrestling  nationals. 

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— Sakshee Malikkh (@SakshiMalik) December 23, 2023

"I've stopped wrestling, but since last night, I've been troubled. The junior female wrestler who's been calling me says that the Junior Nationals are starting on the 28th, and the new Wrestling Federation has decided to hold them in Nandini Nagar, Gonda. Gonda is Brij Bhushan's region. Now, the junior female wrestler is wondering in what atmosphere she should go to wrestle there. Is there no other place in this country besides Nandini Nagar to hold the Nationals?," Sakshi tweeted.

In its release, the sports ministry has come down heavily on Sanjay Singh for holding the nationals at such a short notice. The ministry slammed the new president for taking hasty decision of holding the nationals without feeling the need to inform the wrestlers in advance of a week. "Such decisions (holding nationals) are to be taken by Executive Committee, before which agendas are required to be placed for consideration. As per Article XI of the WFI constitution under the Heading 'Notices and Quorum for Meetings', minimum notice period for EC meeting is 15 clear days and quorum is of 1/3rd of representatives. Even for Emergency EC meeting, minimum notice period is 7 clear days with quorum requirement of 1/3rd of representatives," the ministry said in its press release.

The release of the sports ministry clealy states that that "newly elected body appears to be in complete control of former office bearers in complete disregard to the Sports Code." The release also states that the current body was being controlled by the premises of the former office bearers, the same premises wherein the alleged sexual harassment of the players took place of which a hearing is on in the court. "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 release further said.