Union Sports Ministry directs IOA to form ad-hoc committee

New Delhi: The Union Sports Ministry on Sunday directed the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to form an ad-hoc committee to manage and control the affairs of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), according to a ministry source.

This comes after the ministry suspended the entire federation on Sunday. In a major decision, the Union Sports Ministry on Sunday suspended the aide of ousted WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh following fresh protests by star wrestlers Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia over the election of the new president of the wrestling federation. The principal governing body of the sport in the country along with all its office bearers.

The decision came soon after newly-elected WFI president Sanjay Singh announced that Nandini Nagar in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district will host the Under-15 and Under-20 Nationals by the end of the year.

Earlier, Olympian Sakshi Malik announced her retirement from wrestling in an emotional press conference, claiming that the Center went back on its promise of not installing Brij Bhushan’s associate as an office-bearer of the wrestling federation.

Later, expressing his doubts over the election of Sanjay Singh as the new chief of the WFI, fellow Olympian Bajrang Punia returned his Padma Shri in protest.

The star wrestler had earlier led protests against wrestlers who had come forward against Brij Bhushan and accused him of sexual harassment.

“This announcement has been made hastily, without giving adequate notice to the wrestlers participating in the said national competition and without following the provisions of the WFI Constitution. Objectives In accordance with Clause 3 (e) of the Preamble of the WFI Constitution, the Sports Ministry said in a release on Sunday, the WFI is required, inter alia, to conduct senior, junior and sub-junior national championships as per UWW rules at venues selected by the Executive Committee. Have to arrange for the event.

“Such decisions are taken by the Executive Committee before which the agenda is required to be placed for consideration. As per Article XI of the WFI Constitution under the heading ‘Notice and Quorum for Meetings’, the minimum notice period for EC meetings is 15 clear days and the quorum is 1/3 of the delegates. Even for emergency EC meetings, the minimum notice period is 7 clear days with a quorum requirement of 1/3 delegates,” the ministry said.

“In addition, the Articles of the Constitution of the WFI record the Federation, convene meetings of the General Council and the Executive Committee. It appears that the Secretary General has not attended the said meeting of the EC, which was held without any notice or quorum,” it further said.

“The decisions taken by the newly elected executive body of the WFI show a blatant disregard for established legal and procedural norms, which violate both the constitutional provisions of the WFI and the National Sports Development Code.

It appeared that the newly elected body was under the complete control of the former office-bearers with complete disregard for the sporting code. The business of the federation is being run from premises controlled by former office-bearers, the ministry said.