IOA to Hold Wrestling Federation of India Elections on July 4

IOA announced that the long overdue WFI elections will be held on the 4th of July.

It was also announced that former Jammu and Kashmir High Court Chief Justice Mahesh Mittal Kumar was appointed returning officer for the election.

An oversight committee put together by the IOA has been running the day-to-day of the WFI ever since the nation’s top wrestlers staged a protest against outgoing WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accusing the 66-year-old of sexual harassment.

The protesting wrestlers led by Olympic and Commonwealth Gams medallists such as Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik to name a few, started the agitation early in the year as they staged a sit-down protest at the famous Jantar Mantar in the national capital of New Delhi.

The protest was stopped following government assurances, but the disillusioned wrestlers resumed the protest when the Police denied filing an FIR against Brij Bhushan, who allegedly misused the power of his position to harass seven women wrestlers.

Following the intervention of the Delhi HC, two FIRs were registered against the Gonda native.

But, things turned ugly as the protesting wrestlers marched to the new parliament house and broke the security cordon instilled by the police and scenes of manhandling and arrests were witnessed, which threw the nation into a state of shock with multiple noteworthy personalities extended their support to the protesting grapplers.

The wrestlers were released and things got so heated at one point that Bajrang, Vinesh and Sakshi decided to toss their hard-earned medals representing India on the international stage into the river, but were held back from doing so by leaders of the farmers and khap panchayats, who have been aiding the wrestlers cause.

The wrestlers held discussions with the Union Sports Minister, Anurag Thakur and Union home minister Amit Shah in view of the same predicament, who reportedly gave the wrestlers further assurances going forward and the protest was suspended.

However, the wrestlers still demand that Brij Bhushan be arrested and put behind bars.