United World Wrestling (UWW), the world governing body for the sport, has suspended the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) for not holding its elections on time.
According to sources, the message was conveyed by UWW to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), which is running the WFI affairs through an ad-hoc committee.
If the elections are not held promptly, as an immediate impact of the WFI’s suspension, Indian athletes may not participate under the National flag in the upcoming UWW events, including the World championships to be held in Belgrade, Serbia, from Sept. 16 to 24. They may compete as individual athletes, though.
The UWW, in the Worlds entries published on Tuesday and Wednesday, mentioned ‘IND’ abbreviation, which stands for India, against Indian wrestlers’ names.
Meanwhile, selection trials for the World championships are scheduled to be held at Patiala on Friday and Saturday.
In the backdrop of wrestlers’ protest in January against outgoing WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan’s alleged sexual harassment and different irregularities, the WFI elections were first announced to be held on May 7.
As the wrestlers returned to protest in Delhi on April 23, the Union Sports Ministry asked the IOA to constitute an ad-hoc body and hold the elections within 45 days.
While condemning the police action against the wrestlers, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and UWW had, in May end, asked the IOA to carry out the WFI polls within the 45-day limit.
“The 45-day deadline that was initially set to hold this elective assembly shall be respected. Failing to do so may lead to suspend the federation, thereby forcing the athletes to compete under a neutral flag,” the UWW had said.
Even after the IOA appointed Justice (retd.) M.M. Kumar as the returning officer and the WFI elections were scheduled on July 6, the polls were stayed twice, first by the Gauhati High Court and then by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, following different cases filed by two State associations. The last postponement came on Aug. 11, a day before the proposed polls.
Meanwhile, an appeal against the latest stay is expected to be heard in the Supreme Court on Friday.
