Govt suspends WFI panel | The last straw: Decision to hold junior championship meet in Gonda — on MP Brij Bhushan’s ‘request’

Amid celebrations and sloganeering on Thursday at his MP bungalow in New Delhi, which doubles up as the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) office, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh had a “request” for the organisation’s just-elected president Sanjay Singh — to conduct National Championships for Under-15 and Under-20 categories before the end of the year.

Within minutes, Singh issued an order announcing the date and venue of the age-group competitions — from December 28 to 30 in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda, Brij Bhushan’s backyard.

The Indian Express has learnt that this decision resulted in Prem Chand Lochab, who was elected last Thursday as the WFI secretary-general, shooting off a letter to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to inform that Singh took the decision without involving him in an Executive Committee meeting, which was held without any notice or quorum.

“The secretary-general was kept in the dark about this whereas he should have been the main person to be consulted. There is a process in place, which was violated. This happened within hours of the election, so the secretary-general flagged this to ensure it didn’t happen again,” a source said.

Lochab, part of the government machinery and secretary of the Railway Sports Promotion Board, pointed out the procedural lapses and the violation of WFI’s constitution in his letter.

Those in the know said that it was this decision to host the tournament – termed as “arbitrary” and “against the principles of good governance” by the Sports Ministry on Sunday – that saw the government suspending the committee. It showed, a ministry official said, that the “newly-elected body appeared to be in complete control of former office-bearers” – in a reference to Brij Bhushan, the previous WFI president.

The place where Brij Bhushan loyalist and newly-elected WFI president Sanjay Singh made the decision and released the notice also did not escape the government’s attention. “The business of the Federation is being run from the premises controlled by former office-bearers, which is also the alleged premises wherein sexual harassment of the players has been alleged and presently, the court is hearing the matter,” the ministry official said.

While suspending the committee, the ministry highlighted these breaches. “This announcement is hasty, without giving sufficient notice to wrestlers who are to take part in the said nationals and without following the provisions of the constitution of WFI,” the ministry official said.

“The decisions made by the newly-elected executive body of the WFI demonstrate a blatant disregard for established legal and procedural norms, violating both the WFI’s constitutional provisions and the National Sports Development Code,” the official added.

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