Will Indian wrestlers not wrestle at the international level? UWW threatens, know the whole matter

New Delhi: UWW, the governing body of wrestling at the international level, has threatened that if political interference in the Wrestling Federation of India does not end soon, then it will suspend India.

In such a situation, if UWW suspends India for political interference, then the wrestlers of the country will not be allowed to participate in international competitions in future. Which will be a setback for many wrestlers of India, who are looking at their future in this sport and are dreaming of winning medals for India in the Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth and World Championships.

UWW President Nenad Lalovic clearly said that the autonomy of WFI should be maintained. The Sports Ministry had suspended the WFI, before which the federation had conducted elections in December 2023. Based on the ministry’s suspension, wrestler Satyavrat Kadian had filed a petition in a Delhi court questioning WFI’s right to select Indian teams.

For this reason, Indian teams almost missed out on participating in the World Championship. After approving the team, the ministry had said that it would review the suspension. The court had even asked the ministry to clarify its stand on the suspension. The court had also reinstated the ad-hoc panel, but the Indian Olympic Association refused to follow the order saying that it was not needed.

Even the government had invited WFI President Sanjay Singh to attend some meetings as the authorized representative of the federation. On Thursday, UWW President Nenad Lalovic wrote a letter to Sanjay Singh saying that he accepts WFI as the sole arbitrator for us in all matters related to the sport of wrestling in India and its representation at the international level. He further said that UWW does not accept any interference by public and political authorities in the internal affairs of our member federations, except in matters relating to the control of the use of public grants to national federations…

According to a PTI report, UWW President Nenad Lalovic wrote in the letter – This principle of autonomy and independence is provided by Article 6.3 of the UWW Constitution and the Olympic Charter, and will be strictly followed by all our member federations.

The previous letter was also mentioned…

The report said that UWW also mentioned the previous correspondence to India in this regard. Suspension will be considered if the autonomy of your federation is not fully and for a long time. A WFI source said – National camps are already postponed due to the suspension. There is no basis to continue the suspension. If the ministry does not end the suspension and as a result WFI is banned by UWW, it will be a huge loss for the sport and the wrestlers of the country.