Right after the Paris Olympics, the WFI and ad-hoc committee drama has started once again. And now, one again, the wrestlers could be the lone sufferers. Now, the Sanjay Singh-led WFI said on Friday, that it would challenge the Delhi High Court order that gave the mandate to the IOA-led committee to run the daily affairs of wrestling India. Now, as per them, this interference could harm India’s chances at the upcoming World Championships.
“We are going to take it to double bench. The IOA had dissolved the ad-hoc panel. We will also approach the 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.
India’s World Championships Participation in Jeopardy
The U-17 Championships will be held in Amman from August 19-25, followed by U-20 Championships in Pontevedra, Spain, from September 2-8. In fact, UWW had made it clear, that such interference would not be tolerated.
“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 Nenad Lalovic wrote.