Editorial: WFI in a headlock

The Sports Ministry has suspended the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), just days after it elected new office bearers, for not following the provisions of its own constitution while taking decisions. The ministry asked the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to constitute an ad-hoc panel to manage the affairs of the sports body. The government cited WFI’s ‘hasty announcement’ of organising the U-15 and U-20 nationals ‘without following due procedure and not giving sufficient notice to wrestlers’ for preparations, as the reasons for suspension. It was felt that the new WFI body was working under the complete control of its former office-bearers, not in conformity with the National Sports Code.

Following WFI’s suspension, its former boss, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, at the vortex of sexual misconduct allegations, announced his retirement from the sport. The developments have vindicated wrestlers like Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia. The trio was at the forefront of the agitation against Brij Bhushan and other coaches, who they accused of sexually exploiting women wrestlers during Brij Bhushan’s tenure.

But, the hard-won victory is not without casualties. Malik announced her retirement from sports after the WFI elections while her comrade, the Tokyo Games bronze medal winner, Punia, who had returned his Padma Shri medallion to the government in protest over the election of Brij Bhushan loyalist Sanjay Singh, said he won’t take back his award. It is unconscionable that our respected athletes were subjected to humiliations for the better part of a year before justice was meted out.

The heartrending sight of the trio being dragged along the pavements and crammed into police vans when they attempted to cross barricades and march to the new Parliament building in May this year, is seared into our subconscious. One must remember the ill-informed, lethargic and defensive responses of IOA when the allegations of harassment were first made public. PT Usha who helmed the IOA had at that time criticised the wrestlers for not waiting for the report of a committee that had been tasked with looking into their allegations before deciding to sit on a public protest, which had ‘tarnished India’s reputation’ in the eyes of the global sporting community.

But targeting the veteran sportswoman is going after low hanging fruit, as we all witnessed the deafening silence that rang through the high corridors of our haloed sporting bodies, and the indifference exhibited by India’s celebrated sportspersons, none of whom bothered to take a knee for the sake of the victims. It must be underscored that there’s something rotten at the core of India’s sports administration. Despite the roll-out of such hyped initiatives like the Khelo India programme, aimed at diversifying India’s sporting prowess, the bureaucracy that controls the arena is still beset by the shoddy politics of patronage, favouritism and rampant corruption to boot.

There is a need to strengthen the deliverables of the National Sports Development Code 2011. It’s a legally-binding framework that ensures that sporting federations, which function like a monopoly in India, and receive public funding are made accountable. Speeding up Brij Bhushan’s prosecution, which was initiated only because of the intervention of the Chief Justice, is required to clean up India’s sporting ecosystem, create a safe haven for women athletes and serve as a place-marker for sporting federations across India on the question of accountability.