Brij Bhushan Singh calls panel meeting for discussion regarding nominations ahead of WFI elections

New Delhi: Outgoing Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Singh has called for a panel meeting at his home on Sunday ahead of nominations for the elections of the governing body of the sport in the country, which will take place on August 12.
As per sources, this meeting is called for discussion among the contestants as to who will file a nomination for which post. The election will take place on August 12 and nominations will be filed on August 1.
Initially, the WFI elections were postponed which were set to take place from July 6 to July 11, as per the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
Former Jammu and Kashmir High Court Chief Justice Mahesh Mittal Kumar was appointed as the returning officer for the Wrestling Federation of India elections by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
IOA Joint Secretary and Acting CEO Kalyan Chaubey confirmed the appointment of Justice MM Kumar through an official letter, also authorising him (Kumar) to appoint an Assistant Returning Officer (ARO) and other staff to assist him in conducting the elections.
In the election, the members of the executive committee of WFI will be decided. The occupants of the post of president, one post of senior vice-president, four posts of vice president, one each position of secretary general and treasurer, two posts of joint secretary and five posts of an executive member will be decided, as per a letter from IOA.
The IOA organised a three-member ad hoc committee in April as mandated by the Sports Ministry, and two members were named to oversee WFI's day-to-day activities and pick wrestlers for international events in the interim term.
The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in April announced that the IOA will be forming an ad-hoc committee to conduct the elections for the Executive Committee of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) within 45 days of its formation, to manage day-to-day affairs of the body, including the selection of athletes and making entries for the participation of players in international events.
Since the start of this year, top wrestlers like Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik had been protesting to press their demand for action against BJP MP and WFI Brij Bhushan over sexual harassment allegations faced by him.