Wrestlers move Delhi High Court against WFI, want Olympic trials cancelled: Report

Wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat have filed an urgent petition in the Delhi High Court with a plea to set aside the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) election results and de-recognise the federation as a result. By extension, they want the Olympic trials called by the federation to be cancelled as well.

The protesting athletes allege the WFI elections were held in violation of the sports code, said a report by the Indian Express.

The move comes days after the WFI said it would conduct national trials for Olympic qualifiers and even invited the protesting wrestlers to participate in the trials.

More from Sports

Why Novak Djokovic’s tennis calendar is under scrutiny as experts fear he could be left behind Federer ‘Gukesh is an incredibly fighting player. I think it’s adorable’: Caruana’s rare praise for world champion amid horror form

The WFI had announced that it would conduct the trials on 10-11 March — same dates as the trials announced by the Indian Olympic Association-appointed ad-hoc committee.

While the WFI announced that the trials would be conducted at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi. The ad-hoc committee scheduled the trials in Patiala (for men) and Sonipat (for women).

The report says that the petition challenges the Sports Ministry for allowing the suspended WFI to continue to use the Indira Gandhi Stadium facilities, which is owned by it, for trials.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

WWE SummerSlam 2025 Night 2 results: Cody Rhodes beats John Cena in wild title match

The petition questions how the suspended WFI was able to get permission for conducting trials at a venue which belongs to the Sports Authority of India/Sports Ministry.

The newly-elected WFI was suspended three days after its polls on 21 December for ‘blatant disregard for established legal and procedural norms’.

Sanjay Singh, a close aide of former chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a BJP MP, was elected president of the WFI. Some of the country’s top wrestlers had demanded Brij Bhushan’s arrest after six women wrestlers filed a complaint against him alleging sexual harassment.

After WFI were suspended, the Sports Ministry directed the Indian Olympic Association to set up an ad-hoc committee for WFI’s day-to-day affairs.

The United World Wrestling (UWW), the global body for the sport, had suspended the WFI for delay in conducting elections. However, that suspension was lifted earlier this month after six months. It meant Sanjay Singh was back as president. At the same time, the Sports Ministry has remained tight-lipped on UWW lifting WFI’s suspension.

The report says, the urgent petition says the WFI is in violation of the sports code with members in their state units for more than 12 years or three terms and have not undergone any cooling-off period. It is further alleged that some WFI executive committee members are older than 70 years and that there is no proper Athletes’ Commission in the WFI or the state units.