IOC forms ad hoc committee to supervise WFI's ops

The Indian Olympic Association has formed a temporary committee to run the affairs of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), days after the Centre suspended its newly elected administration. The ad hoc committee will be headed by Bhupinder Singh Bajwa and the members are MM Somaya and Manjusha Kanwar.The IOA said it was appointing the new ad hoc committee to ensure fair play, accountability and transparency.The panel headed by Sanjay Singh -- a close aide of former Wrestling Federation chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh -- was suspended on Sunday, amid a flurry of protests by wrestlers including Olympic medallist Sakshee Malikkh.

Indian Olympic Association forms ad hoc committee to supervise WFI's operations, which include athlete selection, submitting entries for athletes to participate in international events, organizing sports activities, handling bank accounts, managing the website, and other related… pic.twitter.com/GUFnRDHFj2

— ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2023

Announcing the suspension Sunday, the sports ministry said the new panel "appears to be in complete control of former office bearers in complete disregard to the Sports Code". As example, the ministry cited the WFI's "hasty announcement" of U-15 and U-20 nationals "without following due procedure and not giving sufficient notice to wrestlers" for preparations.Sanjay Singh warned that they would seek legal remedy if talks with the government were not enough to resolve the situation.