The Wrestling Federation of India was suspended on Thursday by the sport’s world governing body United World Wrestling for its failure to conduct elections within the stipulated time.
The suspension will continue until a new executive body is elected to run the day-to-day affairs of the federation.
As per PTI, this means that Indian wrestlers will now have to compete at the upcoming World Wrestling Championships, which is the first 2024 Paris Olympics qualifying event, as neutral athletes.
The global body is reported to have communicated its decision to the ad-hoc panel that currently runs the federation on Wednesday night.
The panel, led by Bhupender Singh Bajwa was set up by the Indian Olympic Assoication in April after many of the country’s top wrestlers, led by Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat, took to the streets to demand action against then WFI President Brij Bushan Sharan Singh for alleged sexual harassment.
The United World Wrestling had warned the Indian federation of suspenion if they failed to conduct timely polls back in April - just a day after the ad-hoc panel was set up.
The WFI elections were originally expected to be held on May 7, but that process was declared null and void by the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs.
Since then the polls have been postponed multiple times with various state associations moving to court.