Wrestling Nationals in Jaipur from February 2-5, says WFI ad-hoc panel

The senior national championships for wrestling will be held from February 2 to 5 in Jaipur, the ad-hoc committee governing the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) said on Saturday. Competitions will be held for top honours in senior free style, Greco Roman and the women’s section, the Bhupinder Singh Bajwa-led committee said in a press release. The release also stated that “all correspondence should be done with ad-hoc panel”, making it clear that no stakeholder should be in touch with members of the suspended federation. The tournament will be organised by Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) at Railway Stadium in Ganpati Nagar. Earlier, a three-member ad-hoc committee was formed by the Indian Olympic Association to oversee the WFI after the newly-elected body was suspended by the sports ministry for violating its own constitution. Last Sunday, the wrestling body was suspended for not making decisions in accordance with the provisions of its constitution. In order to manage the day-to-day operations of the WFI, the IOA designated Wushu federation chief Bajwa as the committee’s head. The other members of the panel are 1998 Commonwealth Games badminton medallist Manjusha Kanwar and 1980 Olympic gold medallist hockey player MM Somaya. After Sanjay Singh, a close aide of former WFI boss Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, was elected as the president of the national wrestling body on December 24, he declared that the nationals for the Under-15 and Under-20 age groups would be held in the Nandini Nagar region of the Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh before the year ended. The region is a stronghold of BJP MP Brij Bhushan. The ministry claimed that the wrestlers who were going to compete in the national championships were not given enough notice and that the announcement was made in a hurry and without taking into confidence secretary general Prem Chand Lochab.