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Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Sanjay Singh said the WFI will not field an Indian team in the World Championships unless the Union Sports Ministry revokes its order to de-recognise the National body. The WFI had announced that it would hold selection trials in Delhi on October 6 and 7 to choose teams for the World under-23 and World Championships, respectively. Following the Delhi High Court order that the WFI had no jurisdiction to hold selections and the trials would be conducted by an Indian Olympic Association (IOA) appointed ad-hoc committee, the WFI decided not to hold the trials.
“We will not send any team to the World Championships. The problem is due to the Government’s de-recognition (of an elected WFI on December 24). I will write to the UWW stating that because of Government interference, we are not able to send a team, as doing so will result in contempt of court,” WFI president Sanjay Singh told Sportstar on Saturday.
“It’s not good for our wrestlers, who have been performing so well.” READ | National Anti-Doping Agency serves whereabouts failure notice to retired wrestler Vinesh Phogat The World under-23 Championships is scheduled to be held from October 21 to 27, followed by the elite World Championships (in non-Olympic weights) from October 28 to 31 in Tirana, Albania. Singh said the WFI would conduct talent search events on the given dates.
“If the Government revokes the de-recognition after today’s Haryana elections, then we may send the wrestlers picked from the talent search to the World Championships.” A contempt petition was filed by wrestler Satyawart Kadian, the husband of Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik and a leading face of the wrestlers’ protest last year, contending that different parties, including the Government and the WFI, failed to comply with the court’s August 16 order to restore the ad-hoc committee (on the ground that the ad-hoc panel’s dissolution was not compatible with the Government’s decision to de-recognise the WFI) for running the WFI. He also sought a stay on the trials proposed by the WFI.
An ad-hoc body looked after day-to-day affairs of the federation when it was suspended by the UWW in August 2023 for not holding its elections in the aftermath of the wrestlers’ protest. Later, the ad-hoc body was reconstituted after the de-recognition of the WFI by the Government. After lifting its suspension in February, the UWW threatened to suspend the WFI again prior to the Olympics if the Government interfered in the national federation’s affairs, following which the IOA dissolved the ad-hoc body.
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