IOA forms ad hoc committee to run affairs of suspended WFI

NEW DELHI: The

Indian Olympic Association

(

IOA

) on Wednesday established a three-member ad hoc committee to oversee the day-to-day operations of the

Wrestling Federation of India

(

WFI

). This action was taken by the Sports Ministry due to the suspension of the wrestling national body for not adhering to the provisions of its own constitution in decision-making.
Bhupinder Singh Bajwa, the president of the Wushu Association of India, will serve as the committee's chairman. The other two members are MM Somaya, an Olympian in hockey, and Manjusha Kanwar, a former international badminton player.

The Sports Ministry's decision to suspend the WFI came three days after the election of new office bearers, with

Sanjay Singh

, a loyalist of

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh

, assuming the role of president. The ministry also directed the IOA to form an ad-hoc panel to oversee the affairs of the wrestling body.
In a statement, the IOA expressed concerns that the newly-elected president and officials of the WFI had made arbitrary decisions, violating their own constitutional provisions and disregarding principles of good governance.

"The IOA has recently become aware that the recently appointed President and officials of WFI have made arbitrary decisions in violation of their own constitutional provisions and against the principles of good governance espoused by IOC and further without following due process overturned the rulings of the IOA- appointed Ad hoc Committee," IOA president

PT Usha

said in the release.
"This not only highlights a governance gap within the federation but also signifies a noticeable departure from established norms.

"Since the IOA considers adherence to governance norms as vital for ensuring fair play, transparency and accountability and to safeguard the interests of sportspersons as espoused by IOC and to ensure continuity, it has been decided to appoint an Ad hoc committee...."
The ad hoc committee was tasked to oversee and supervise WFI's operations, which include athlete selection, submitting entries for athletes to participate in international events, organizing sports activities, handling bank accounts, managing the website, and other related responsibilities.
Bajwa was also one of the members of the ad hoc committee formed by the IOA in April to run the affairs of WFI and to conduct its elections. After repeated delays due to court cases, elections were finally held on December 21 with Brij Bhushan's close aide Sanjay winning the presidential poll.

Hours after getting elected as WFI President on Thursday, Sanjay had announced that age group national championships will be held from December 28 in Gonda in UP, which is BJP MP Brij Bhushan's constituency.
The government, while suspending the WFI, cited its "hasty announcement" of organising the U-15 and U-20 nationals "without following due procedure and not giving sufficient notice to wrestlers" for preparations.
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.
Sanjay's election as WFI chief also led to Rio Olympics medallist Sakshi Malik announcing her retirement from wrestling, while Tokyo Games bronze winner Bajrang Punia also returned his Padma Shri to the government.
World Championships medallist Vinesh Phogat also followed suit as she returned her Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award.
The trio had led a five-month-long protest of wrestlers at Jantar Mantar, accusing Brij Bhushan of sexually exploiting several women grapplers.
(With PTI Inputs)