CHENNAI: Article X of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), which specifies the duties of the office-bearers, holds the key as the government and other stakeholders scurry to find an amicable solution to resolve ongoing issues in wrestling in the country.
Part 'b' of the article deals with the duties of the senior vice-president and it says, "In the absence of the President, the Senior Vice President shall perform all the duties of the President. This function shall be delegated to the Senior Vice President in writing. In addition, Senior Vice President shall perform all such duties which are specifically assigned to him in writing by the President."
As senior vice president, Devender Kadyan, is one of the two candidates backed by the protesting wrestlers in the newly-elected WFI panel and his elevation to the top post can bring an end to the dispute that has marred the sport in the country for almost a year. But for that to happen, the two factions including wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat have to come to a consensus.
With the sports ministry on Sunday instructing the newly-elected executive committee of the WFI to abstain from administering and managing the day-to-day affairs of the federation with immediate effect until further orders, the sport was thrown into further disarray with the only option left is to find a candidate acceptable to both the parties.
In its order, the ministry cited WFI's 'hasty announcement' of organising the U-15 and U-20 nationals 'without following due procedure and not giving sufficient notice to wrestlers for preparations. It should be noted here that the elections were held only on Thursday with former president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's close loyalist Sanjay Kumar Singh winning the contest for the top post defeating former Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anita Sheoran 40-7.
Soon after coming to power, the Sanjay Singh-led body cancelled all the decisions made by the ad-hoc committee including the senior national championships allotted to the Railway Sports Promotion Board and Olympic qualification criteria. It also announced that the U-15 and U-20 national championships will be held in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh, the home turf of Brij Bhushan, from December 28 to 30.
Secretary Prem Chand Lochab, who is the second winning candidate from the opposite faction, raised objections to the move and wrote to Sanjay Singh and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) saying the decisions were made in contradiction to the WFI constitution. It was learnt that the ministry also wrote to the WFI chief asking for his reply on the issue and decided to take the latest step after not getting a satisfactory reply from him.
The ministry has also written to the IOA president and asked her to form an ad-hoc committee to run the sport in the country. Notably, the federation was under an ad-hoc committee constituted on May 3 this year till the elections were held on December 21.
"Since wrestling is an Olympic sport and WFI is an affiliate member of the Indian Olympic Association and taking note of the compelling current situation arising out of the influence and control of the WFI's former office bearers, serious concerns have arisen about the governance and integrity of the WFI," said the letter written to the IOA president.
"This requires for immediate and stringent corrective measures to uphold the principles of good governance in sports organisation, and thus, now it becomes incumbent on the part of IOA to make suitable arrangements for the interim period for managing the affairs of WFI so that sportspersons of wrestling disciplines do not suffer in any manner and the principle of good governance in the sports body do not get jeopardise. In view of the above, it is requested that an ad-hoc committee may be constituted by the IOA to manage and control the affairs of WFI, as per the defined role of NSFs in the National Sports Development Code of India 2011, including the selection of athletes, making entries for the participation of sportspersons in international events, holding of sporting activities, etc with immediate effect, until further orders," added the letter. Sakshi says it's good Sakshi, who was the face of protest and announced her retirement from the sport after Brij Bhushan's faction won 13 out of 15 posts, welcomed the move and said, "It is the first step towards something good happening. I hope the government understands more the cause we were fighting for. If a woman federation president is there, it will be better for the safety of women wrestlers. It was a fight for sisters and daughters of the country."
Bajrang, who had returned his Padma Shri in protest on Friday, affirmed that he will not roll back his decision until complete justice is done. "Now that I have returned it, I am not going to take it back. The honour of our sisters and daughters is bigger than any award. All of you have seen what is happening. I will think about taking it back only after justice is delivered. The matter is in court and we are waiting for justice," he told a news agency.
Meanwhile, Brij Bhushan, a BJP member of parliament, met the party's national president JP Nadda after the ministry's decision. He later told the media that he has distanced himself from the sport and will now focus on the 2024 elections. "I served wrestling for 12 years, good or bad only time will tell. I have taken retirement from wrestling. I am breaking my relationship with the sport. The Lok Sabha elections are around the corner and I have to move ahead," he said.
Speaking on the decisions taken by the newly-elected WFI, he said, "In haste, the committee had to take the decision to organise the U15 and U20 Nationals because on December 31 the competition cycle (of 2023) was ending and if those tournaments happen after that, one full year of the wrestlers would have been wasted."
