On 1st January (Monday), the Indian Olympic Association-constituted ad-hoc panel for Wrestling announced that the national wrestling camps for men and women will commence in Sonepat and Patiala respectively from 9th February.
National wrestling camps to begin in Sonepat and Patiala from February 9: IOA ad-hoc panel #wrestling pic.twitter.com/EHhWsnX2iK
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 1, 2024
The camps will begin almost immediately after the senior National Championships in Jaipur concludes on 5th February in the wake of the Asian Olympics Qualifying and World Qualifying tournaments which would be around the corner by that time.
The three-member ad-hoc panel, led by Wushu Association of India chief Bhupender Singh Bajwa, former hockey player MM Somaya, and ex-shuttler Manjusha Kanwar, has been assigned to make critical decisions for wrestling sports. Notably, the IOA-constituted panel took charge after the Sports Ministry suspended all activities of the newly-elected Sanjay Singh-led Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) body, just three days after the polls.
In a statement, the panel head Bhupender Singh Bajwa said, “Following the conclusion of the Senior National Championships, the National Coaching Camp (NCC) will be conducted. The men’s camp (Greco-Roman and free-style) will be stationed at SAI NRC Sonepat, while the women’s camp will be held at SAI NSNIS, Patiala.”
The national camp will select medalists from 30 weight divisions, covering senior freestyle, Greco-Roman, and women’s categories, based on their performance in the senior Nationals in Jaipur. The camp is scheduled to be conducted by the Railway Sports Promotion Board from February 2nd to 5th.
Bajwa added, “The camp will extend until the 2024 Paris Olympics and its primary focus would be to train the grapplers for the upcoming Olympic Qualifying tournaments. These tournaments include the 2024 Asian Qualification Tournament set to be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, from April 19-21, and the 2024 World Qualification Tournament scheduled for Istanbul, Turkey, from May 9-12, 2024.”
For a major part of last year, the national camps across different age groups were disrupted after several wrestlers led protests against former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Singh was asked to resign on 20th January after allegations of sexual harassment by wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Ravi Dahiya, Bajrang Punia, and his wife Sangita Phogat and Sakshi Malik and her husband Satyavart Kadian. His term was anyway ending, and he was not eligible to contest in the just concluded elections as he had already held the post for 3 terms, which is the maximum allowed.
Developments around WFI elections and Wrestler’s move afterward
On 24th December, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports wrote to the Indian Olympic Association to form an ad hoc committee to replace the newly-elected Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). The decision came after the union sports ministry suspended all activities of the newly-elected body of the WFI. The ministry had instructed the WFI not to carry out any activities after it announced junior national championships in violation of norms.
Meanwhile, on the day when elections for the newly-elected Wrestling body concluded and Sanjay Singh was elected as its President, Sakshi Malik held a press conference. Unhappy with the election of Brij Bhushan Singh’s loyalist Sanjay Singh as WFI Chief, Malik announced her retirement from the sport.
A day later on 22nd December, Bajrang Punia had announced that he was returning his Padma Shri award to Prime Minister Narendra Modi which was awarded to him in 2019.
Subsequently, on 30th December (Saturday), Wrestler Vinesh Phogat returned her Arjuna and Khel Ratna Awards days after she had announced it through her X (formerly Twitter) account.
