WFI Suspended: Indian Wrestlers To Participate Sans Flag & National Anthem
Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
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By Slogger
First publised on 2023-08-24 14:23:24
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Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
View all posts by this Author
The worst has happened for Indian wrestling. United World Wrestling (UWW) has suspended the Wrestling Federation of India for not conducting elections within 45 days as stipulated by the world body in its earlier communication. This means that Indian wrestlers, if they participate, will be treated as neutrals and cannot use the national flag. The national anthem will also not be played if they win a medal.
The sorry state of affairs is not only of WFI's or IOC's doing. The courts have also intervened, by issuing stay orders that led to the postponing of the elections. First the Guwahati HC stayed the polls on a plea by the Assam Wrestling Association which was allegedly denied the right to participate in the election process by WFI and later the Punjab & Haryana HC did the same on a plea by the Haryana Wrestling Association. While the Supreme Court had quashed the Guwahati HC stay order in time, the Punjab & Haryana HC stay order on August 11 meant that the elections could not be held within the 45 days deadline set by UWW.
But, with the threat of suspension from UWW looming large, the WFI and the IOC blundered in not approaching the Supreme Court on an urgent basis and impressing upon it the urgency to quash the stay order. If they had approached the apex court on as soon as the Punjab & Haryana HC had issued the stay and had obtained relief, they could have held the elections soon thereafter as all formalities had been completed. By being lax in the matter, the federation has brought the axe upon itself. WFI must also address the issue of multiple bodies in some states, each of them claiming to be affiliates and any of them bringing the election process to a halt by filing pleas in the courts.
