Even as the Paris Olympic Games are less than 7 months away, wrestling competitions in the country have come to a standstill due to the long-standing controversy surrounding the national wrestling body. As it turns out, the saga is unlikely to end anytime soon as newly-elected Wrestling Federation of India president Sanjay Singh has hit out at the Indian Olympic Association (IOA)-appointed ad-hoc panel, saying that neither he nor the WFI body would recognise the ad-hoc panel.

Sanjay Singh, speaking to India Today, said that the ad-hoc panel was formed without consulting him or the other elected members of the Wrestling Federation of India and stressed that he was elected president of the WFI after an electoral process that was mandated by the Supreme Court.

The Sports Ministry suspended the Wrestling Federation of India executive body, days after Sanjay Singh won the election for the president’s post. The ministry said that the newly-elected body was “in complete control” of its former office-bearers and even questioned why the WFI office was running from the residence of its former president, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Top wrestlers in the country, including Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshee Malikkh, opposed the election of Sanjay Singh, saying he was a close aide of Brij Bhushan, who was accused of sexually harassing female wrestlers.

The Sports Ministry directed the Indian Olympic Association to form an ad-hoc panel to oversee the operations of the WFI. The 3-member panel, which has Wushu Association of India president Bhupinder Singh Bajwa, Olympian MM Somaya and former international badminton player Manjusha Kanwar, was formed in the last week of December.

Notably, the Bhupinder Singh Bajwa-led panel announced the dates for wrestling nationals. While confirming that the tournament would be held from February 2 to 5 in Jaipur, the committee said “all correspondence should be done with ad-hoc panel”, making it clear that no stakeholder should be in touch with members of the suspended federation.

Sanjay Singh said it will only be the WFI that will host the nationals and that a general body meeting of the federation would be called soon to discuss the road ahead for resuming competitions in the country.

Last week, the Wrestling Federation of India office was shifted out of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s residence. Notably, Sanjay Singh had promised the Sports Minstry that they were prepared to move theWFI office out of the former president’s residence.