Sports minry instructs WFI to halt all ongoing activities, suspends WFI assant secretary Vinod Tomar

The Sports minry on Saturday instructed the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) to suspend all ongoing activities with immediate effect, “unless an Oversight Committee is formally appointed and takes over the day to day functioning of WFI.”
The minry also issued an order to suspend the Assant Secretary of WFI, Vinod Tomar, with immediate effect, a press release stated.
“The Minry of Sports has communicated to the Wrestling Federation of India on Saturday that in view of the Government’s decision to appoint an Oversight Committe to investigate the various allegations raised athletes against the Federation, WFI will suspend all ongoing activities with immediate effect, unless the Oversight Committee is formally appointed and takes over the day to day functioning of WFI,” the release said.
“In view of the direction to suspend all activities immediately, the Sports Minry has asked WFI to also cancel the ongoing Ranking Tournament in Gonda, UP. The Minry has directed WFI to return the entry fees charged to participants for the ongoing event,” it added.
Earlier in the day, the WFI had rejected all the allegations, including that of sexual harassment against its president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, and claimed that the wrestlers’ protest was motivated a “hidden agenda to dislodge the current management”.
The WFI denied all the charges in its response to the government’s notice and asserted that “there is no scope for arbitrariness and mismanagement ” in the federation.
The Sports Minry had sought an explanation from WFI after the country’s top wrestlers sat on a dharna and alleged that the federation chief sexually harassed women wrestlers and acts like a “dictator”.
The WFI sent its reply on Friday evening and, few hours later, the wrestlers called off their protest after the government announced that it will form an oversight committee to probe the charges. It also said the WFI chief will step aside till the investigation is over.
“The WFI is managed an elected body as per its constitution, and therefore, there is no scope for arbitrariness and mismanagement in WFI any one individually, including the president,” the WFI said in its response to the Sports Minry.
It said the charges were “motivated, biased, unfounded, untrue and false” and that the allegations were made solely with a view to harm the president, the WFI and its coaches.“Any aggrieved person/wrestler may approach the said committee for its grievances if any, and the committee is bound to inquire as per law. However, no such complaint of any such nature as has been received from the protestors/wrestlers,” the WFI wrote.
The WFI led 23 national events conducted in 2022 and claimed it “speaks of fair, supportive, clean and strict management”.
The WFI questioned the timing of the protest, and said vested interests are behind it.
“…who have evidently acted more in personal interest or under undue pressure or under any bigger conspiracy to malign and defame the present management of the WFI or president for vested interest only.
“The protesting wrestlers are accountable to explain for themselves, to the public as well as the Minry of Youth Affairs and Sports, particularly when mostly the protestors are seen coming together from a particulars region/state of Haryana,” the federation wrote.
“It would also be worth drawing attention that even the next election of WFI is due in near future of 2023… that the protest is not in the best interest of the wrestlers, it has some personal as well as hidden agenda to dislodge the current management of WFI.” The letter, signed WFI secretary general V N Prasood, also said that the federation is ready to cooperate with the government and will provide all the necessary information the minry seeks.
(With PTI inputs)