The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) will likely be dealt with by a transitionary, or ad-hoc, committee shaped by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for the close to future. This is as requested by the sports activities ministry in a letter to the IOA president on Monday.

Elections that had earlier been declared for May 7 have been declared void and it has been requested that the brand new ad-hoc committee conduct the identical inside 45 days of its formation. That committee may also oversee day-to-day affairs of the Federation.

The letter additionally says that the Oversight Committee that had been shaped in January to investigate allegations towards WFI and its president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has submitted its report and has now ceased to exist.

The preliminary findings of the committee are –

• There was no Internal Complaints Committee and there was an absence of an satisfactory mechanism for consciousness constructing, and for grievance redressal.

• There is a necessity for transparency and session between the Federation and stakeholders (together with sportspersons).

• There is a necessity for efficient communication between Federation and sportspersons.

It is pertinent to notice that not one of the allegations raised by the wrestlers have been addressed in these preliminary findings and it stays to be seen if the report will do the identical.

Reacting to this growth, Vinesh Phogat stated, “A committee had been made to manage the day-to-day working [of the WFI – the Oversight Committee] but it was still being run by Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and his people, so we are not focusing on this. We are also not focused on the elections… our fight is to ensure FIR is filed on the complaints of sexual harassment made against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and that he is arrested, we want the police to investigate this thoroughly and the honourable court to provide us justice. This is our fight, and we will stay here till we are successful.”

She added, “We want the findings of the committee on the sexual harassment complaints made by the wrestlers. If they have not found anything then FIR should be filed on us. If they do find, FIR should filed on Brij Bhushan.”

The Indian Olympic Association has been requested to conduct the election of the Executive Committee of the Wrestling Federation of India in 45 days and handle the affairs, together with collection of athletes for worldwide occasions within the interim interval. pic.twitter.com/IDYLmvcQNQ

– Dept of Sports MYAS (@IndiaSports) April 24, 2023

On Sunday, the wrestlers — led by Olympic medalists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, and Worlds medalist Vinesh Phogat — returned to the site of protest that had sparked all this in January. They stated that that they had acquired no details about the report or any potential findings and that nobody from the Ministry was answering their queries.

They additionally stated that that they had raised a criticism at Connaught Place police station (in New Delhi) towards WFI president Singh — with seven girls wrestlers (together with a minor) accusing him of sexual harassment — however the police had refused to file an FIR.

They proceed to stay at Jantar Mantar, and have acknowledged that they won’t depart until they get justice, and the FIR is filed.