Gonda (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 11 : Following the revocation of ban on the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) by the Union Sports Ministry, the former president of the federation, Brij Bhushan Singh thanked the ministry for restoration of its status as a National Sports Federation (NSF) for wrestling. He also took a swipe at ace wrestlers and politicians present in protests against the federation, saying that the "intentions of conspirators were not fulfilled".
The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports lifted the suspension on the Wrestling Federation of India, restoring its recognition as a National Sports Federation (NSF) for the sport. The Sports Ministry had suspended the WFI body after the newly elected WFI president Sanjay Singh announced the hosting of the U-15 and U-20 nationals at Nandini Nagar in the Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh in December 2023.
Speaking to ANI, Brij Bhushan said, "This struggle lasted for about 26 months and today the Wrestling Federation has been reinstated by the government. Therefore, we want to thank the government and the Sports Minister (Mansukh Mandaviya)."
"If anyone has suffered due to this, it is the players and junior players. The conspirators who were involved in this, their intentions were not fulfilled. We will only say that the federation should conduct all the wrestling tournaments and camps that used to happen earlier, because they were not taking place all this while. A lot of wrestlers from poor background get their diet and learnings from these camps," he added.
Starting from 2023, Several ace wrestlers like Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia spearheaded protests against WFI and its former president Brij Bhushan Singh, alleging him of sexual assault.
In August 2023, United World Wrestling (UWW) put a ban on WFI as it failed to organise elections within a stipulated time following accusations of sexual harassment and protests against ex-president Brij Bhushan Singh by top wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik. An ad hoc committee by the International Olympic Association (IOA) was put in place.
In late December 2023, elections were held and Sanjay Singh was elected as the new president of WFI. However, the wrestlers protested against his election, saying he was an aide of ex-president Brij Bhushan. Days after the elections, the Ministry suspended the federation again, a decision that came after Sanjay had announced the hosting of the U-15 and U-20 nationals at Nandini Nagar in the Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh by the end of the year. An ad-hoc committee of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was put in place once again to handle the day-to-day affairs of the federation.
The ad-hoc committee was dissolved in March 2024 after IOA said that there was no need for the body following the lifting of the ban on the federation by United World Wrestling (UWW) and the successful completion of selection trials for future competitions. UWW lifted the ban on WFI in February last year with immediate effect.
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