IOA dissolves ad-hoc committee for wrestling after UWW lifts ban, WFI to take charge

livemint.com:

Delhi High Court to handle the day-to-day activities of the wrestling federation was Monday resolved by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) saying "there is no further need" of the panel following the withdrawal of the suspension on the WFI by the United World Wrestling (UWW), which has now got complete administrative control of wrestling in the country. The IOA said in an office order that, "The decision to dissolve the Adhoc Committee comes in light of the lifting of the ban on the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) by the United World Wrestling (UWW) and the successful completion of Selection Trials by the Adhoc Committee appointed by the IOA as per the directives of the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi." "Consequent upon the aforementioned developments, there is no further need for running the activities of the WFI through an ad-hoc committee," the IOA said.

The three-member ad-hoc committee for wrestling was formed in December 2023 after the sports ministry suspended the WFI. Earlier in August 2023, the global sports body UWW placed WFI under provisional suspension after the federation failed to hold an election in the stipulated time due to a protest against ex-president Brij Bhushan Singh by leading wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik accusing him of sexual harassment.

The UWW lifted the suspension of the WFI in February 2024, months after the election of Sanjay Singh as the new president of the federation in late December 2023. Meanwhile, WFI chief Sanjay Singh thanked the IOA for giving his elected panel control of the national federation.

"We thank IOA for giving us full-fledged control of the WFI. We will give all the facilities to the wrestlers.