Kumar Siddhartha, Pune
The wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, along with World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat, have lodged an urgent petition in the Delhi High Court. They allege that the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) conducted the election in violation of the sports code, and are trying to invalidate the election results and revoke the federation’s recognition.
This issue comes days after the WFI circulated a circular stating that it would conduct national trials for Olympic Qualifiers and invited the protesting wrestlers to participate in the trials. A source said, “Without the court’s interference this trial will not be conducted free or fair and it will affect the careers of wrestlers”. In the circular WFI had announced it would conduct trials on the 10th March or 11th March, and the Indian Olympic Association-appointed ad-hoc committee had announced the same dates for the trials. WFI had announced that in IG stadium, New Delhi, the trials will be conducted. Whereas, the ad-hoc committee has also scheduled trials for men and women in Patiala and Sonipat respectively.
The urgent petition has raised concerns about how the suspended WFI obtained permission to conduct trials at a venue owned by the Sports Authority of India or the sports ministry. The sports ministry suspended the elected body of the WFI three days after its polls on December 21, citing “blatant disregard for established legal and procedural norms.” The petition also mentions the defiance of the sports code that the sports ministry has turned a blind eye towards WFI about not conforming.
The urgent petition has highlighted that despite being aware of the ad-hoc committee’s announcement of event dates, the suspended WFI proceeded to organize a distinct national championship.
The urgent petition states that the elected members of the WFI have served in their respective state wrestling units for more than 12 years or three terms without undergoing any cooling-off period. Additionally, it notes that some executive committee members of the WFI are over 70 years old and highlights the absence of a proper Athletes’ Commission in both the WFI and its state units.
It has been reported that the urgent petition filed in the high court advocates for either the continuation of the ad-hoc committee to manage the daily operations of the WFI or the appointment of an administrator for the federation. Also, the petition requests the court to instruct the WFI office-bearers to refrain from communicating with UWW without clearance from the ad-hoc committee. Furthermore, according to sources, the urgent petition urges the court to issue an order preventing the WFI from making any decisions contradicting those of the sports ministry or the ad-hoc committee.