Former Wrestler Narsingh Pancham Yadav Elected Chairman Of WFI Athletes' Commission

Narsingh Pancham Yadav, a gold medalist in the Commonwealth Games, was elected as the chairman of the Athletes' Commission of the Wrestling Federation of India on April 24.

Narsingh Pancham Yadav, a Commonwealth Games gold medalist, was elected as the chairman of WFI's Athletes' Commission on April 24 (Wednesday). ( Image Source :Getty )

Narsingh Pancham Yadav, a Commonwealth Games gold medalist, was elected as the chairman of the Wrestling Federation of India's Athletes' Commission on April 24 (Wednesday), fulfilling a requirement set by the United World Wrestling (UWW). Eight candidates vied for the seven positions, and following the polling conducted on ballot paper, seven members were elected. Subsequently, they elected Narsingh as the chairman of the commission.

Narsingh Pancham Yadav clinched the gold medal in the men's freestyle 74 kg category at the 2010 Commonwealth Games hosted in New Delhi. Despite qualifying for the Rio Olympics in 2016, his participation was cut short after testing positive for anabolic steroids. Subsequently, he faced a four-year ban from competitive wrestling. Yadav consistently asserted that his positive test resulted from sabotage.

Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Sanjay Singh provided insights into the elections where Yadav was elected as the chairman.

"Today, Athlete Commission of India election took place. Eight candidates who filed nominations were,  Bharti Baghel from Uttar Pradesh, Khushbu S Pawar, from Gujarat, Narsingh Yadav from Maharashtra, Nikki from Haryana, Rajiv Ranjan from Jharkhand, Sahil from Delhi, Smitha from Kerala, and Shweta Dubey from West Bengal. In the election, voting was done and Rajiv Ranjan emerged as the sole loser and rest seven have won. There were total 50 voters - two wrestlers each state," Sanjay Singh said as per PTI.

WFI's Efforts To Address UWW Suspension

Following the ban imposed by the UWW in August last year due to the delayed elections, WFI is currently making efforts to rectify the situation. The suspension on the organization was lifted earlier this year with the assurance in writing that there would be no discrimination against protesting wrestlers.

Last year, six prominent wrestlers, including Olympic Games medalists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, as well as Asian Games gold medalist Vinesh Phogat, staged a prolonged protest at Jantar Mantar. They were demanding the arrest of the then WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, alleging him of sexually harassing female wrestlers.