Sanjay Singh elected new president of Wrestling Federation of India

Published at :December 21, 2023 at 5:09 PM

Modified at :December 27, 2023 at 5:53 PM

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s aide defeated Anita Sheoran in one-sided victory.

Sanjay Singh, the vice president of the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association, was elected as the new president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Thursday. He defeated former Indian wrestler Anita Sheoran by a margin of 40 votes to 7 in the delayed elections held in New Delhi. Singh succeeds Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has been the WFI president since 2012 and is now a member of parliament.

Singh, who hails from the faction supporting Brij Bhushan, has been associated with the WFI for over a decade. He was part of the previous executive council and the joint secretary of the national federation since 2019. He has been involved in promoting and developing wrestling in Uttar Pradesh and has also organized several state and national-level tournaments.

However, Singh’s election as the WFI president has not gone down well with many wrestlers, who had been protesting against Brij Bhushan and his associates for months. They had accused the former WFI president of alleged corruption, nepotism, and mismanagement of funds. They had also demanded that the WFI elections be conducted fairly and transparently, without the involvement of Brij Bhushan or his loyalists. They had even approached the sports minister and the Supreme Court for their intervention.

The WFI elections, which were supposed to be held in July, had been delayed due to court cases filed by some of the disgruntled wrestlers. The international federation, United World Wrestling, had also suspended the WFI for failing to conduct fresh polls on time. The Supreme Court recently lifted the stay imposed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, paving the way for the election process to resume.

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The protesting wrestlers, who include Olympic medalists and world champions like Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, and Bajrang Punia, have expressed their disappointment and anger over Singh’s election. They have said they will continue fighting for their rights and the future of Indian wrestling.

They have also questioned the credibility and legitimacy of the WFI elections and the role of the sports ministry and the Indian Olympic Association in overseeing them.

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