Statement of suspended WFI President Sanjay Singh, said- ‘Will challenge the government’s decision in court’

Suspended Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Sanjay Singh on Thursday said that the Sports Ministry did not follow proper procedure while suspending the national wrestling body and he will challenge the government’s decision in court.

In fact, the Sports Ministry on Sunday suspended the WFI’s newly elected president Sanjay Singh, three days after the elections, saying that he had violated its own constitution in taking some decisions, including the announcement of the Under-15 and Under-20 national championships.

Sanjay Singh, however, said that the government cannot suspend WFI’s autonomous and democratically elected body without hearing its stand. “We won the WFI elections democratically,” Sanjay told PTI. The retired Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court was the returning officer and also an observer for the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and United World Wrestling (UWW). 22 state units (three out of 25 state units were absent) took part in the elections, 47 votes were received, out of which I got 40.

He further said, “Despite this, if we are suspended, we will not accept it. The democratically elected institution was not even given a chance to present its case, which is against the principles of justice whereas everyone is entitled to this under the Indian Constitution. On what would have been the next step for WFI, he said, “WFI is an autonomous organization and the government did not follow the proper procedure. We will talk to the government and if the government does not withdraw the suspension, we will take legal opinion and approach the court.

Sanjay said that since the WFI is opposing the suspension, he does not accept the three-member ad-hoc committee formed by the IOA. On Wednesday, the IOA had constituted a three-member committee to look into the functioning of the WFI. Sanjay also said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s arrival at the Haryana Akhara to meet Olympic medalist Bajrang Punia made it clear that the trio (Bajrang, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik) is doing politics.

Sanjay, close to former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, said, “It is clear that they (Bajrang, Vinesh and Sakshi) have the support of Congress and Left parties. All three are working according to these political parties. He said, “You tell me any fourth wrestler who is opposing the WFI.” These three do not want the junior wrestlers to move forward, they want to snatch the rights of the junior wrestlers.

He said, “Bajrang had gone to the Hangzhou Asiad without participating in the trials and he came back losing 0-10. He is not wrestling, he is doing politics. If you are worried about wrestling then come forward, the way is clear for you. But if you want to do politics then do it in the open. Regarding Bajrang leaving his Padma Shri on the footpath, Sanjay said, “It may be a personal matter, but the nation’s sentiments are attached to the Khel Ratna, it does not belong to an individual but to the entire society.” Padmashree is not something that can be kept on the road. ,

It is noteworthy that after Sanjay was elected as the WFI chief, Sakshi had retired from wrestling while Bajrang had decided to return his Padma Shri. Vinesh had also returned her Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award. He also claimed that he had taken a letter to the UWW from the WFI requesting them to lift the ban and he was hopeful of a favorable decision from the international body.

He said, “We had written a letter to UWW requesting them to lift the ban on WFI as the elections were conducted democratically. There is an office holiday going on in Europe right now so it may take a few days. Sanjay also claimed that the Constitution was not violated in any way while announcing the date and venue of the Under-15 and Under-20 National Championships. He said, “When we decided to hold the Under-15 and Under-20 national championships, the full quorum was present. There was a general body meeting on the election day itself, we went to a hotel in Delhi and took the decision. If the national competition was not conducted this year, the future of the young wrestlers would have been affected, which has already happened. They will be older now. Everyone also agreed about the venue. ,