IOA dissolves ad-hoc committee after "successful trial completion", lifting of ban on WFI by United World Wrestling

NEW DELHI: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Monday dissolved the ad-hoc committee which was appointed to handle the day-to-day activities of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), saying that there is no need for the body following lifting of the ban on the federation by United World Wrestling (UWW) and the successful completion of selection trials for future competitions. UWW lifted the ban on WFI in February with immediate effect.

The UWW had placed the WFI under provisional suspension on August 23 last year after the federation failed to hold an election in the stipulated time following accusations of sexual harassment and protests against ex-president Brij Bhushan Singh by top wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik. An ad hoc committee was put in place.

In late December, elections were held and Sanjay Singh was elected as the new president of WFI. However, the wrestlers protested against his election, saying he was an aide of ex-president Brij Bhushan. Days after the elections, the Ministry suspended the federation again, a decision that came after Sanjay had announced the hosting of the U-15 and U-20 nationals at Nandini Nagar in the Gond district of Uttar Pradesh by the end of the year. An ad-hoc committee of IOA was put in place once again to handle the day-to-day affairs of the federation.

The trials for men's and women's wrestlers were held from March 10-11. The Asian Wrestling Championships will be held from April 11 to 16, while, Asian Olympic Qualifiers will be held from April 19 to 21.

IOA said in an office order that the decision to dissolve the Adhoc Committee comes "in light of the lifting of the ban on the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) by the United World Wrestling (UVVW) and the successful completion of selection trials by the ad-hoc committee appointed by the IOA as per the directives of the High Court of Delhi".

"Consequent upon the aforementioned developments, there is no further need for running the activities of the WFI through an ad-hoc committee," it said.

IOA noted that it is imperative that WFI, on the advice of UWW, appoints a safeguarding committee or officer to address concerns of abuse and harrassment of athletes and to make sure that all rules, regulations and guidelines set by UWW and other authorities are followed.

"The WFI is also directed to conduct the elections of the Athletes Commission in a time-bound manner, in accordance with the established procedures and guidelines. This step is essential to promote athlete representation and participation in the decision-making processes of the WFI," the order said.

The WFI has also been instructed to repay the loan provided by the IOA to the Ad-hoc Committee for managing WFI's operations.