After the conclusion of elections on Thursday, the Wrestling Federation of India wrote to United World Wrestling and requested to lift the ban on Friday, December 22. New WFI president Sanjay Singh revealed that the ban imposed by UWW should be lifted after holding elections democratically.
World wrestling body had slapped WFI with a suspension after the delayed election to form a new governing body in August. As a result, Indian wrestlers had to compete in the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou under a UWW flag and fared poorly.
Now the elections are over and a new body is headed by Sanjay Singh, a close aide to the ex-chief Brij Bhushan Singh, the WFI is looking at UWW to lift the ban.
"We wrote to the UWW today that the ban imposed on WFI should now be lifted as elections have been held democratically," Sanjay Singh told PTI on Friday. "I am sure the suspension will end soon."
Sanjay Singh also added that both junior and senior wrestlers are suffering due to a lack of competition and restarting the league will be a priority. Sanjay Singh confirmed that Maharashtra's Ahmednagar will host the Senior National Championships starting on January 28, 2024.
"The wrestlers, both junior and senior, have suffered a lot in the last few months for lack of competitions. Our priority is to restart the competitions. We are working towards that. Senior Nationals will be hosted by Maharashtra. The states have also announced their trials for the senior Nationals," Sanjay Singh added.
Meanwhile, new secretary general Prem Chand Lochab and senior vice-president Devender Singh Kadian were absent from the WFI meeting in New Delhi. Both Prem Chand and Devender Singh are from the Anita Sheoran panel that managed to win only two of 15 posts on Thursday.
WFI is also looking to hold their first General Body Meeting (GBM) of the newly-elected federation on January 11 or 12, 2024, in New Delhi.
