New Delhi: United World of Wrestling (UWW), the world wrestling body, on Wednesday suspended the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) over failure to conduct elections, and as a result, the country’s wrestling team will not be able to compete at the upcoming World Championships under the Indian flag.
The Indian wrestlers will have to compete as 'neutral athletes' at the Olympic-qualifying World Championships starting September 16 as the ad-hoc panel led by Bhupender Singh Bajwa did not honour the deadline for conducting the elections to its executive committee.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had appointed the ad-hoc panel on April 27 and the committee was supposed to hold elections within 45 days. UWW on April 28 warned that it could suspend the Indian federation if the deadline to hold elections is not honoured.
Originally, the WFI was to hold elections on May 7 but the Sports Ministry had declared the process as null and void.
The elections have been delayed multiple times with multiple disgruntled and disaffiliated state bodies moving the court, seeking the right to participate in the polls.
The WFI was suspended for the first time in January and then for the second time in May after India's top wrestlers protested and accused the president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexually harassing some female wrestlers.
With PTI inputs