WFI | Delhi court orders IOA to handover WFI duties to ad hoc panel

• Sanjay Singh said that he will challenge the orders
• Wrestlers are worried about serious damage

WFI | Delhi: The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), which was at the center of controversies last year, has yet again suffered a setback. Immediately after the Paris Olympics, the drama of the WFI X Ad Hoc Committee once again opened. A Delhi court on Friday directed the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to keep the WFI in its status quo and hand over its operations to an ad hoc committee. The court issued a fresh order hearing a petition filed by prominent wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik seeking to hand over the activities of the WFI to an ad hoc committee. It is known that the wrestlers mentioned above had filed a legal battle on the streets of Delhi last year accusing former WFI President Brij Bhushan Saran Singh of sexual harassment. Due to the struggle of the wrestlers, the central government canceled the WFI on 24 December 2023.. A new ruling class was elected under the leadership of Sanjay Singh, a follower of Brij Bhushan. And United World Wrestling (WWW) also lifted the ban on WFI in February this year, and IOA also canceled the ad hoc committee.

Wrestlers at risk of losing: Sanjay Singh

Reacting to the order of the Delhi court, Sanjay Singh said that it will cause immense damage to the young wrestlers and they will be challenged. He expressed concern that the representation of wrestlers in the upcoming world championships would be in question with the intervention of the ad hoc committee. Sanjay Singh said.. ‘IOA canceled the ad hoc panel in the past. On these orders we go to a two-judge bench. We will also contact the UWW and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). They have already warned that interference from outsiders will affect the athletes. Two world championships are to be held soon. If the ad hoc committee intervenes, the representation of the wrestlers in those competitions will be questionable,’ he said. The Under-17 World Championship will be held in Jordan from August 19 to 25, while the Under-20 World Championship will be held in Spain from September 2-8.