UWW lifts Wrestling Federation of India suspension with immediate effect
Wrestling’s world apex body, The United World Wrestling (UWW) lifted the suspension on the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) with immediate effect on February 13, Tuesday. Notably, the provisional suspension was imposed by the UWW on August 23, 2023, after the WFI failed to hold an election in due course.
Furthermore, the UWW has instructed the WFI to provide written assurances that there will be no discriminatory actions taken against the protesting trio comprising Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, and Sakshi Malik.
"The UWW Bureau met on February 9 to review the suspension among other topics and considering all the elements and information, it decided to lift the suspension," the governing body mentioned in the statement released on Tuesday.
"The WFI has to immediately provide UWW with written guarantees that all wrestlers will be considered for participation without any discrimination in all WFI events, in particular trials for the Olympic Games and any other major national and international events, the statement added."
"This non-discrimination includes the three athletes who protested against alleged wrongdoings by the former President (Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh)," it went on to state.
After the suspension of the WFI, the trio of Malik, Punia, and Phogat protested against the then WFI President Brij Bhushan for alleged acts of sexual harassment and corruption.
Sanjay Singh, a close aide of former President Brij Bhushan, was elected the new head In the WFI elections held in December 2023. However, the federation was suspended within days of taking charge by the sports ministry due to the violation of the national sports code. Soon after, the Indian Olympic Association appointed an ad-hoc committee to run the sport.
Sakhi Malik, who won the Olympic bronze medal in the 2016 Olympic Games, had announced her retirement after the elections in December. Punia and Phogat also returned the national honors conferred upon them for their remarkable achievements across the globe.
Indian wrestlers can represent with country’s flag
Furthermore, the world body also directed the national federation to re-convene the elections of its Athletes' Commission no later than July 1, 2024.
“The WFI has to re-convene the elections of its Athletes’ Commission. The candidates for this commission shall be active athletes or retired for no longer than four years. The voters shall be exclusively athletes. These elections shall take place during trials or any senior national championships where this operation can take place, but no later than July 1, 2024,” the statement read.
Since the suspension is lifted now, the Indian wrestlers can now represent themselves under the country's flag at the next UWW event.