The Wrestling Federation of India’s membership has been indefinitely suspended by the United World Wrestling today.
The United World Wrestling (UWW) has decided to suspend the membership of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) indefinitely. The suspension is due to the postponement of elections for WFI designations caused by protests and legal battles.
As a result of the suspension, Indian wrestlers will not be able to compete under the Indian flag at the upcoming World Championships. Instead, they will compete as ‘neutral athletes’ at the Olympic-qualifying World Championships starting September 16. It has been reported that the ad-hoc panel led by Bhupender Singh Bajwa failed to meet the 45-day deadline for conducting the elections.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) appointed an ad-hoc panel on April 27th of this year, with the mandate to hold elections within 45 days. However, the United World Wrestling (UWW) issued a warning to the panel the very next day, stating that the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) could face suspension if the panel failed to conduct the elections within the given deadline.
On Wednesday night, the United World Wrestling (UWW) informed the ad-hoc panel that the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has been suspended for failing to hold elections for its executive committee, according to an IOA source .
Initially, the WFI was scheduled to hold elections on May 7th, but the process was declared null and void by the Sports Ministry. The elections have been postponed multiple times due to several dissatisfied and disaffiliated state bodies seeking legal intervention for their right to participate in the polls .
The United World Wrestling (UWW) suspended the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) for not holding timely executive committee elections. Indian wrestlers must now compete as ‘neutral athletes’ at the World Championships. The future of this situation and WFI’s actions to resolve it are uncertain.
