Bajrang Punia

Following the suspension of the recently elected Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), the Sports Ministry has directed the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Sunday to form an ad-hoc body for the administration and oversight of WFI affairs.

On Friday,Olympic medal-winning wrestler Bajrang Punia opted to return the Padma Shri award as a form of protest against the appointment of Sanjay Singh, a staunch supporter of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, as the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).

WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is accused of sexual harassment, has refused to step down despite the chargesheet filed against him by the Delhi Police.

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, wrestling federation of India chief accused of alleged sexual harassment by several athletes has been summoned to Delhi's Rose Avenue court on July 18.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has to submit the names of all the participating athletes to Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) by July 15 and thus the ad-hoc panel needs to conduct trials before that.

The Asian Games are scheduled to commence in Hangzhou, China on September 23 and IOA is required to submit the names of the competing athletes by July 15.

Earlier, the United World Wrestling sent a warning to hold the WFI elections within the 45-day deadline or face suspension. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) too has been made aware of the development.

BJP MP and WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is facing allegations of sexually harassing female wrestlers, on Sunday said he will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from the Kaiserganj seat again.

Sports Minister Anurag Thakur had assured the protesting wrestlers that a charge sheet will be filed in the case by June 15 after which the grapplers suspended their protest.

The shocking revelation made by the father significantly weakens the case against WFI Chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has been the target of wrestlers' unrelenting protest for the past six months.