New Delhi: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has formed an ad-hoc three-member committee to supervise the operations of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) following the suspension of its newly elected executive body Sunday.
The committee will consist of Wushu Association of India president Bhupinder Singh Bajwa (the chairperson), former hockey player M.M. Somaya and former badminton player Manjusha Kanwar.
The panel will supervise the WFI’s operations, which include athlete selection, submitting entries for athletes to participate in international events, organising sports activities, handling bank accounts, managing the website, and other related responsibilities, the IOA said in a statement Wednesday.
The Union sports ministry had suspended the wrestling body Sunday for “flouting its own constitution”, and handed over operations to the IOA.
The decision came just three days after BJP MP and former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s friend Sanjay Singh overwhelmingly won the WFI elections and became its president, triggering an outcry from wrestlers. The WFI has been at the centre of a row ever since top wrestlers brought sexual harassment charges against Brij Bhushan
In response to Sanjay Singh’s election, Olympic medallist Sakshee Malikkh has quit the sport, while another Olympian, Bajrang Punia, has “returned” his Padma Shri to the government. Commonwealth and Asian Games medallist Vinesh Phogat “returned” her Khel Ratna and Arjuna awards Tuesday.
The three had spearheaded the protests, hitting the streets twice this year to demand action against the powerful BJP leader from Uttar Pradesh.
When suspending the WFI, the central ministry also said the new body was working under the complete control of its former office-bearers — an apparent reference to Brij Bhushan. The election was necessitated after the MP stepped aside to facilitate the harassment probe against him.
In its statement Wednesday, the IOA said that the newly appointed WFI president and other officials had made “arbitrary decisions in violation of their own constitutional provisions and against the principles of good governance espoused by the IOC (International Olympic Committee)…”