After suspended WFI conducts own nationals, says govt recognition will come in 10 days, sports ministry threatens legal action

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports threatened legal action against Sanjay Singh, president of the currently-suspended Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), on Tuesday if he, or any other elected members, continued to make “unsubstantiated claims regarding the status of the WFI.”

In an interview published in The Indian Express on Tuesday, Singh claimed that he is confident that the government will revoke the suspension of the federation, and he will return in his capacity as president “within 10 days.”

Singh was speaking on the sidelines of a Senior Nationals competition in Pune that was conducted in defiance of orders from the Sports Ministry. He also said that “those who go for the Olympics will be from the Pune Nationals only.”

The official notice from the ministry stated that any competition organised by the suspended federation will be treated as “unsanctioned /unrecognised” and that only the ad-hoc committee appointed by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had the power to hold nationally-recognised tournaments. The ad-hoc panel has decided to hold its nationals in Jaipur from February 2-5.

“Based on an interview of yourself given to a national newspaper, published on 30.01.24, certain completely baseless statements have emerged which are causing confusion and anxiety among the athletes and others concerned with wrestling,” the notice also stated.

“Please be advised that failure to adhere to this caution may compel the Ministry to consider further legal action including, but not limited to, legal proceedings for spreading misinformation and unsubstantiated claims and any other relevant charges as per the laws of the country,” it went on to say.

Singh, a loyalist of BJP MP and former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh against whom some of the country’s top wrestlers had held months-long protests over alleged sexual harassment, had been elected as the chief of the federation. Many of the new office-bearers, including Singh, who said that Brij Bhushan was like his “brother”, have openly claimed they are loyalists of the former president.

However, within a few days of the newly-elected members taking the reins, the sports ministry suspended the body stating it had violated the National Sports Code and the constitution of the WFI when they announced Under-15 and Under-20 national tournaments in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district, without giving sufficient notice to wrestlers and without involving the secretary general of the WFI in the Executive Committee meeting in which the decision was taken.

They added that the newly-elected body seemed to be in full control of the outgoing office-bearers and that the business of the federation was still being conducted from the residence of the outgoing president. The WFI office has since moved out of Brij Bhushan’s residence.

While there was no mention of the allegations against Brij Bhushan in the government’s decision to suspend the body, it came on the heels of objections from Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik – all of whom were on the frontlines of the protest against Brij Bhushan – against the outcome of the elections. They objected saying that many of the new office- bearers, including Singh who said that Brij Bhushan was like his “brother”, were loyalists of the former president.

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