WFI to challenge High Court order, says Indian wrestlers' participation in upcoming Worlds in danger

NEW DELHI: The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Friday said that it will challenge the Delhi High Court's order restoring the mandate of the Indian Olympic Association's (IOA) ad-hoc committee to manage the sports body’s affairs.
The WFI said that the 'interference' could jeopardize Indian wrestlers' participation in upcoming World Championships.
The Court's recent order was in response to a plea by wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and her husband Satyawart Kadian.
They sought to halt the WFI's activities as the national federation for the sport.
Passing the interim order, Justice Sachin Datta stated that the IOA could reconstitute the committee previously led by Bhupender Singh Bajwa.
The IOA had dissolved the ad-hoc panel on April 4, following the lifting of the WFI's suspension by United World Wrestling (UWW) on February 13, 2023, after the WFI conducted elections.
"We are going to take it to double bench. The IOA had dissolved the ad-hoc panel . We will also approach world governing body UWW and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). They had warned that outside interference may impact out athletes," WFI President Sanjay Singh told PTI.
"Two World Championships are approaching. Indian wrestlers' participation could be blocked," he feared.
The U-17 World Championship is scheduled to take place in Amman, Jordan, from August 19-25, while the U-20 World Championship is slated for Pontevedra, Spain, from September 2-8.
In an April 25 letter to the WFI President, UWW President Nenad Lalovic clarified that an ad-hoc panel managing the federation’s affairs was not acceptable.
"In case any decision or order should be made against your federation, and a third party be designated to run the daily affairs of our sport in India in violation of the UWW Statutes, UWW would have no other option than to re-impose a temporary suspension of your federation until further notice, and which, this time, could maybe include your athletes,"UWW president Lalovic wrote.
The Centre had suspended the WFI on December 24, 2023, three days after it elected the new office bearers, for allegedly not following the provisions of its own constitution while taking decisions, and requested IOA to constitute an ad-hoc committee to manage its affairs.
On March 4, the court had issued notice to the central government, WFI and the ad-hoc committee on the petition filed by the top grapplers.