United World Wrestling puts WFI in chokehold following election stumble

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has been suspended by the United World Wrestling Federation (UWW), the sport's global governing body, for failing to hold elections on Thursday.

A day before the ad hoc panel intends to hold the World Championships trials in Patiala, the development occurs.

The ad hoc panel was chosen by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on April 27. The committee had 45 days to hold the elections.

UWW warned on April 28 that it could suspend the Indian federation if the election deadline was not followed.

"The UWW communicated to the ad-hoc panel on Wednesday night that WFI has been suspended for not holding elections to its executive committee," PTI quoted an IOA official as saying.

 Ad-hoc panelist Gian Singh, meanwhile, told PTI that Bajwa is keeping them in the dark about relevant events and that they are no longer involved in decision-making.

"I have also heard that WFI has been suspended but I can't tell you what the ad-hoc panel will do now. Mr Bajwa does not call us for discussion anymore. I did not even know how the criteria were finalized for the world trials," reported PTI, citing Singh.

For a comment, Bajwa was approached, but he did not reply to calls or texts.

For the first time in Indian wrestling history, the women's team from India defeated world powers Japan and the United States to win the team title in the recent U-20 World Championship in Amman.

The wrestlers received points for competing as representatives of their nation, but at the senior world championships in Serbia, the Indians will fight as "neutral athletes," and their results won't be taken into account when calculating India's score.

However, as the IOA and not the WFI sent entry, the wrestlers can represent India at the Asian Games, which begin on September 23 in Hangzhou.

The WFI is required to send entries to the Worlds after choosing a team through trials.

The WFI was initially scheduled to hold elections on May 7, but the Sports Ministry declared the process invalid. As a result, the IOA formed an ad hoc council to oversee the sport in the nation.

After that, the elections were repeatedly postponed as a result of numerous disgruntled and unaffiliated state entities petitioning the court to be allowed to vote.

 

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