Sanjay Singh claimed that the veteran wrestlers who have been protesting do not want junior wrestlers to progress
Sanjay Singh, the Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh loyalist, on Wednesday exuded confidence of sweeping the much-delayed Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections, saying the fraternity knows who would be beneficial for the sport and who could inflict damage to it.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Friday requested the UWW to "keep in abeyance" the WFI suspension, insisting that it was making efforts to resume the election process.
UWW boss Nenad Lalovic also said the world body will require a "robust plan" from the stake-holders guaranteeing a "safe environment" where grapplers can report abuse and harassment, and a clear hearing process is in place.
'The elections of the WFI were stayed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court on 11.08.2023 just a day before the poll and therefore, polling could not be held on 12.08.2023... the Supreme Court has vacated the stay orders and therefore the remaining steps like polling etc. will now recommence on 21.12.2023 as per the following revised schedule.'
Bajwa, when asked whether Indian grapplers will compete under the United World Wrestling (UWW) flag at the Paris Olympics since the Wrestling Federation of India has been banned by the international body, told PTI that, since the Olympics and Asian Games are multi-discipline events, "they will compete as part of the Indian contingent".
The IOC has condemned the manner in which the protesting Indian wrestlers were being treated by Delhi Police.
The world body said it has been keeping an eye on the protest by the wrestlers against WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
'Vinesh wants an assurance from the government. Probably she fears that if WFI gets back the control, the federation may change the selection policy. But how can the government give assurance on this. The government can't interfere in selection matters.'
Apart from the senior competition, the U-17 and U-23 Asian Championships are set to return to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan for a second straight year. The tournament will take place from June 10 to 18.
Olympian Deepak Punia skipped the national trials, in Patiala on Saturday.
Hundreds of junior wrestlers assembled at Jantar Mantar for a symbolic three-hour protest against Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat.
UWW will not interfere in the pending case relating to the alleged sexual harassment of Indian women grapplers by former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh but will "listen to the voices of athletes" if they approach the world body again, its chief Nenad Lalovic said on Monday.
Antim Panghal once again confirmed her emergence as one of the top wrestlers in the country by winning the World Championships trials in Patiala on Friday.
From wrestlers' protest to WFI elections: Timeline
United World Wrestling (UWW), the world governing body for wrestling, has suspended the Wrestling Federation of India for not conducting its elections on time.
The trials for the wrestling World Championships will be held on August 25-26 in Patiala, the ad-hoc panel announced on Monday, ending weeks of uncertainty around the selection competition.
The following is the timeline of the chain of events that led to the suspension of the Wrestling Federation of India by UWW, the sport's global governing body.
The quota winners at the 2023 World Championship will not be eligible to participate in the continental qualifiers unless they participate in a different style.
The Indian defeated Kazakhstan's Atlyn Shagayeva 8-0 final to emerge the first Indian to win gold in the competition's 34-year long history.
The protesting wrestlers refrained from immersing their medals in the river Ganges after being convinced by Khap and farmer leaders who sought five days to address their grievances.
"I want to dedicate my gold to Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. He has inspired me," Punia tweeted after his victory.
The Greco Roman style, a poor cousin of free style wrestling in India, had a lot cheer with historic three-medal performance at the U-23 World Championships through Sajan Bhanwala, Nitesh and Vikas.
Wrestler Deepak Punia's foreign coach Murad Gaidarov was expelled from the Tokyo Olympics on Friday for assaulting the referee who officiated the bronze medal play-off bout which the Indian lost to San Marino's Myles Nazim Amine.
A miffed WFI feared that it could be penalised by the world body United World Wrestling (UWW), if Pakistani grapplers were denied Visa.
In the men's freestyle category, Sandeep Tomar also broke into the top-10, reaching the seventh position in men's 57kg.
Suspended Indian wrestler Sumit Malik on Tuesday said he has no idea how a banned stimulant entered his body but admitted that he was on painkillers during the recent Olympic Qualifiers and had informed the world body about that before taking the mat.
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has already made it clear that it may hold fresh trials if the performance of the winners are not satisfactory
Sajan Bhanwal became the first Indian to win back-to-back medals at the Junior World Wrestling Championship after he secured a silver in the 77kg Greco Roman category in Trnava, Slovakia.
The denial of visa to Pakistani shooters had led to the International Olympic Committee suspending discussions with India for hosting future global events.
India's top grappler Bajrang Punia has been handed the top billing in the men's 65kg freestyle category at the World Championships.
Riding on her bronze medal finish at the Rio Olympic Games, Sakshi Malik entered the top-five in the latest UWW (United World Wrestling) rankings, rising to a career-best 4th position in women's 58kg category. Previously unranked, Sakshi, who became the first Indian woman wrestler to win an olympic medal, claimed the position in the latest list.
If Sumit Malik's B sample also returns positive, he can be banned from the sport.
Pitted against heavyweights in their respective first round, both Sonam and Anshu cared little for reputations, fighting fearlessly.
China's wrestlers will not be taking part in the Asian Championships beginning in New Delhi on Tuesday as they have not been granted visas by the government due to the novel coronavirus outbreak there, a top official of the national federation said on Monday. Wrestling Federation of India assistant secretary Vinod Tomar said that the government has denied visas to the 40-strong Chinese contingent.
Shrugging off his controversial semi-final defeat, Bajrang Punia bagged his third World Wrestling Championships medal while Ravi Dahiya made his debut memorable by grabbing a bronze.
Two Mongolian wrestling coaches who stripped off in protest at the judging at last month's Rio Olympics have been suspended for three years, the sport's international federation said on Wednesday.
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), on Thursday, denied sending any list of Olympic probables, sans Sushil Kumar, to the Indian Olympic Association, insisting that the two-time medallist is not yet out of contention for the Rio Games.
Narsingh Yadav's hopes of competing in the Rio Olympics appeared bleak after he failed a second dope test, which was conducted on his samples on July 5.
The Indian Olympics Association (IOA), on Thursday, said that it will not object to wrestler Narsingh Yadav replacing Praveen Rana in the Rio Olympics if he is cleared by NADA in an ongoing dope scandal.
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