Sanjay Singh elected new WFI president after months of elections delays

After four months of delays, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections were finally staged on Thursday (December 21) in New Delhi. Sanjay Singh was elected as the new president of the WFI.

Sanjay, who is the vice-president of the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Federation, defeated former Commonwealth Games gold medalist Anita Sheoran in a lopsided vote 40-7.

The elections were conducted for 15 separate WFI posts. The list includes key roles such as president, treasurer, secretary general, and senior vice-president.

Sanjay Singh is said to be the close aide of ex-WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. He was also part of WFI's previous executive council and also assumed the post of joint secretary at the national federation in 2019.

Even though Sheoran received the backing of the country's top wrestlers such as Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, the 39-year-old couldn't garner enough support from the actual voters during the recent elections.

There were requests from Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik to the Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur to prevent persons close to Brij Bhushan Singh from contesting the WFI elections.

How does this election help India lift the WFI suspension from UWW?

The United World Wrestling (UWW) suspended the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) in August this year for failing to conduct the fresh elections to its executive committee at the proper timings.

All the wrestling affairs in the country were run by an Indian Olympic Association-appointed ad-hoc committee. The Indian grapplers also competed as 'neutral athletes' at the World Wrestling Championship 2023 in Serbia.

The WFI was initially scheduled to host elections in May. However, the Sports Ministry declared them as null and void, and as a result, the IOA set up an ad-hoc panel to run the federation.

The completion of the national federation elections means the UWW may lift the suspension on the WFI.