STAFF REPORTER / NEW DELHI
In a major development the Sports Ministry today suspended the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) till further orders after the newly-elected body made a “hasty announcement” of organising the U-15 and U-20 nationals “without giving sufficient notice to wrestlers” to prepare.
The WFI elections were held on December 21 with former president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s loyalist, Sanjay Singh, and his panel winning the polls by big margins.
“The new body has not followed the WFI constitution. We have not terminated the Federation but suspended till further orders. They just need to follow the due process and the rules,” a sports ministry official said.
WFI Went Against Rules: Ministry
The ministry cited that the president of the newly elected body – Sanjay Kumar Singh – announced on 21 December that the junior national competitions will begin before the end of this year. The ministry detailed that this was against the rules and at least a 15-day notice was needed so that the wrestlers could prepare.
“Such decisions (holding nationals) are to be taken by Executive Committee, before which agendas are required to be placed for consideration. As per Article XI of the WFI constitution under the Heading ‘Notices and Quorum for Meetings’, minimum notice period for EC meeting is 15 clear days and quorum is of 1/3rd of representatives. Even for Emergency EC meeting, minimum notice period is 7 clear days with quorum requirement of 1/3rd of representatives,” the ministry said in its press release.