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Sanjay Singh, the newly-elected Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Chief, wrote a letter to the United World Wrestling (UWW) President Nenad Lalovic, reminding that its rules and IOC charter don’t allow the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to exercise any control over them. Under that, he urged the UWW to promptly lift the provisional suspension on WFI.
The letter from Sanjay Singh to Nenad Lalovic was sent after the Indian Sports Ministry suspended the WFI three days into assuming power, re-instituting the IOA ad-hoc panel to oversee wrestling in the country. In it, Singh asserted to Lalovic that any interference by the IOA in the matters of WFI should be considered “illegal by the UWW.
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PTI, the Indian news agency, who have access to a copy of the letter from Sanjay Singh to Nenad Lalovic, reported what was written in it, which read, “Pursuant to the election, the newly-elected body has taken charge of the WFI and is managing its affairs, and we await the lifting of the provisional suspension imposed by the UWW.
“We understand that we continue to be an affiliated member of the UWW. However, there is a provisional suspension imposed by the UWW which was to be vacated after holding of the elections of the WFI as mentioned in your letter dated 23rd August 2023," the letter further read.
Singh also spoke in the letter to Lalovic about how the Delhi High Court order explicitly prohibits the IOA from interfering in the proceedings of any national sports federation. He wrote, “We would also like to draw your attention to a judgement of the High Court of Delhi against the IOA which was passed on l6th August 2023, which stated that the IOA cannot exercise any control of authority over a National Sports Federation. Any influence by the IOA would be illegal, NSF's are independent entities.”
