UWW suspends WFI for delaying elections, Indian wrestlers won’t play under India flag

The United World Wrestling (UWW) has indefinitely suspended the membership of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) due to the federation's failure to conduct the necessary elections.The WFI has been embroiled in a series of controversies, causing its elections to be postponed significantly. The federation, which is India's wrestling governing body, was supposed to hold elections in June 2023. However, the elections have been repeatedly postponed due to a series of protests by Indian wrestlers and legal petitions from various state units.

UWW, the world governing body for wrestling, has suspended the WFI for not conducting its elections on time, a development which will not allow Indian grapplers to compete at the upcoming World Championships under the Indian flag.The Indian wrestlers will have to compete as 'neutral athletes' at the Olympic-qualifying World Championships starting September 16 as the ad-hoc panel, led by Bhupender Singh Bajwa, did not honour the 45-day deadline for conducting the elections.The elections for 15 positions on the WFI's governing body were scheduled to be held on August 12. On Monday, four candidates, including outgoing Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's close aide Sanjay Singh from Uttar Pradesh, filed nominations for the post of president at the Olympic Bhawan in New Delhi.Darshan Lal of the Chandigarh wrestling body was nominated for the position of general secretary, while SP Deswal of Uttarakhand was nominated for treasurer from the Brij Bhushan camp.

The WFI was suspended first in January and then again in May after India's top wrestlers protested against its functioning and alleged its then president Brij Bhushan sexually harassed female wrestlers. The day-to-day affairs of WFI are currently being managed by the Indian Olympic Association-constituted ad-hoc committee led by Bhupender Singh Bajwa.Notably, the United World Wrestling, the governing body of the sport at the highest level, warned WFI of suspension if the elections were delayed.