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Indian wrestlers will compete under a neutral banner at the World Championships after the United World Wrestling (UWW) suspended the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). This happened because the Indian wrestling governing body failed to conduct the presidential elections on time, after the suspension of WFI former Chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
After UWW’s verdict on August 24, the Indian athletes won’t be able to compete under the national flag. Instead, they will participate as neutral athletes in the tournament that will take place on September 16 to September 25 in Belgrade, Serbia. Earlier. The suspension of the Indian wrestlers’ body came after its ad-hoc panel, headed by Bhupender Singh Bajwa failed to honour the 45-day deadline for conducting the elections.
The WFI was warned of potential suspension in April if the deadline was not met. Meanwhile, the decision came a day before the World Championships trials in Patiala, Punjab. As per the PTI, this wouldn’t prevent the Indian names from participating in the forthcoming tournament as the names of the Indian wrestlers are sent by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and not the suspended body.
Earlier, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections that were scheduled to be hosted on August 12, Saturday, were put to a halt. The elections of the WFI were scheduled from July 6 to July to July 11 as per the Indian Olympic Association (IOC) but were later postponed to August 12. However, a day before the elections, the Chandigarh High Court put a stay on the polling.
