 "Wrestling")
The ad-hoc committee for wrestling, formed in December 2023, was dissolved by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Monday with immediate effect. The IOA dissolved the committee after the ban on the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) was lifted in February by the United World Wrestling (UWW). The IOA order said that there was no further need to run the WFI activities through an ad-hoc committee.
The IOA, however, directed the WFI to appoint a safeguarding committee/officer at the earliest for timely redressal of sexual harassment and other abuse claims. It also asked the WFI to conduct the election of the Athletes Commission in a time-bound manner.
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) dissolves the ad hoc committee for Wrestling pic.twitter.com/CPVLOdYsIL
— ANI (@ANI) March 18, 2024
The latest order by the IOA instructed the WFI to repay the loan provided by the IOA to the ad-hoc committee for managing the wrestling federation’s operations.
The ad-hoc committee was formed on the recommendation of the Sports Ministry on December 27 last year, after the suspension of the WFI’s governing council by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) on December 24, 2023.
Bhupinder Singh Bajwa, who headed the previous ad-hoc committee that ran the sport in the country in the absence of a fairly elected body till late December from early August 2023, was the head of this ad-hoc committee as well.
The latest move comes after a stormy year for Indian wrestling, where the sports body was rocked with allegations of sexual abuse and harassment. Following months of protests by star wrestlers Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, among others, the WFI headed for electing a new body, removing the accused BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh as the chief of WFI.
However, soon after the election, the Sports Ministry had suspended the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) in December 2023. The action came in the wake of a controversial decision made by the newly elected body regarding the organisation of the U-15 and U-20 national trials. According to reports, the ministry felt the new WFI body was working under the complete control of its former office-bearers, which was not in conformity with the National Sports Code.
