Sanjay Singh defies suspension; vows to host nationals

Indian wrestling teetered on the edge of a deeper crisis with Sanjay Singh, President of the suspended WFI, on Monday declaring that they will soon organise the national championships and insisting that they neither recognise the suspension of their newly-elected body by Sports Ministry nor the ad-hoc panel.

Three days after the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) held its polls, the ministry suspended the sports body citing several violations of rules on December 24.

On the request of the government, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) then formed a three-member panel, headed by Bhupender Singh Bajwa, to manage the day-to-day affairs of the body.

The other members of the committee are former hockey player M M Somaya and ex-shuttler Manjusha Kanwar.

The ad-hoc panel announced that it will host the senior national championships in Jaipur from February 2-5.

Sanjay, though, remained combative and said they will not co-operate with the ad-hoc panel and will organise the Nationals.

"We got elected democratically. The Returning Officer had signed the papers, how do they ignore that. We do not recognise this ad-hoc panel," Sanjay told PTI.

Asked how will they organise they Nationals, he said, "We do not recognise this suspension. The WFI is working smoothly, we are on the job."

"How will they (ad-hoc panel) organise Nationals if our state associations will not send the teams. We will organise our National Championship soon. We are soon calling the Executive Committee meeting. The notice of the EC meeting will be sent in a day or two and we will have the Nationals organised before they do it."

If the WFI goes on to organise its own Nationals the crisis will take a turn for the worst.

"We had sent our explanation to the ministry that we have not flouted any rules. We are still awaiting a reply. We will wait for a day or two. If they do not want to engage with us, we are not also not interested then."

"Our federation does not recognise this suspension."

Indian wrestling has witnessed unprecedented power struggle in the last one year. In protest against Sanjay, who is a close aide of sexual harassment accused Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, becoming WFI president Bajrang Punia returned his Padma Shri and Vinesh Phogat returned her Arjuna Award and Khel Ratna.

Sakshi Malik had quit wrestling the day Sanjay won the WFI president's election. 

Senior national wrestling camps to commence on February 9

The national wrestling camps for men and women will commence in Sonepat and Patiala respectively from February 9, according to the IOA-constituted ad-hoc committee for the sport on Monday.

With the Asian Olympics Qualifying and World Qualifying tournaments around the corner, the camps will begin almost immediately after the conclusion of the senior National Championships in Jaipur on February 5.

The ad-hoc panel, headed by Wushu Association of India chief Bhupender Singh Bajwa with former hockey player MM Somaya and ex-shuttler Manjusha Kanwar being the other members, is taking all the crucial decisions after the newly-elected Sanjay Singh-led Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) was suspended by the Sports Ministry within three days of the polls.

"Following the conclusion of the Senior National Championships, the National Coaching Camp (NCC) will be conducted. The men's camp (Greco-Roman and free-style) will be stationed at SAI NRC Sonepat, while the women's camp will be held at SAI NSNIS, Patiala," said Bajwa in a statement.

The national camp will select medallists in 30 weight divisions across senior free-style, Greco-Roman, and women's categories from the senior Nationals in Jaipur, which are being organised by the Railway Sports Promotion Board from February 2-5.

"The camp will extend until the 2024 Paris Olympics and its primary focus would be to train the grapplers or the upcoming Olympic Qualifying tournaments.

"These tournaments include the 2024 Asian Qualification Tournament set to be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, from April 19-21, and the 2024 World Qualification Tournament scheduled for Istanbul, Turkey, from May 9-12, 2024," added Bajwa.

Besides, the national camp will help prepare athletes for the Senior Asian Championships to take place in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, from April 11-16.

The national camps across age groups were disrupted for a major part of last year due to the agitation by top wrestlers in the country, including Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat against former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for his alleged sexual harassment of women grapplers.