sports-ministry-suspends-wfi-committee-headed-by-sanjay-singh

The Union Sports Ministry on Sunday suspended the WFI committee, headed by recently elected Sanjay Kumar Singh, stating the committee failed to follow the protocols. The suspension comes after Singh announced junior sports competitions will begin before 2023 ends. 

 

The Ministry in a statement underlined that the committee still is under the control of former office holders, calling it a “complete disregard” to the sports code. 

 

“Such decisions (referring to the announcement of nationals) are to be taken by the Executive Committee, before which agendas are necessary to be placed for consideration. As per Article 11 of the WFI constitution under the Heading 'Notices and Quorum for Meetings', the minimum notice period for EC meetings is 15 clear days and the quorum is of 1/3rd of representatives.” 

 

“Even for Emergency EC meetings, the minimum notice period is 7 clear days with a quorum requirement of 1/3rd of representatives,” the Ministry’s press release statement then adds. 

 

In context to former President Brij Bhushan, the ministry added that the Federation's operations are currently being conducted from premises controlled by former office bearers. These premises are also under scrutiny for alleged incidents of sexual harassment involving players, and the court is presently addressing this matter. 

 

The national championships were planned to take place in Gonda, a location where Brij Bhushan holds significant influence among the locals.
 Following the announcement, Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik expressed criticism toward the committee regarding the selection of the venue.

 

Soon after Sanjay Singh was elected as the President of WFI, Sakshi Malik said she was quitting wrestling, while Bajrang Punia gave up his “Padma Shri” award as a sign of showing disappointment over the body's chief selection.