United World Wrestling, the international governing body for amateur wrestling, has announced its decision to lift the ban imposed on the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) with immediate effect. The decision was announced on Tuesday (February 13).
"UWW had placed the WFI under provisional suspension on August 23 last year after the Indian body failed to hold an election in due course. The UWW Disciplinary Chamber decided that it had sufficient grounds to impose the provisional suspension on the body as the situation in the federation prevailed for at least six months," an official statement from the body read.
The same report stated that the UWW Bureau had in fact met to review the suspension and decided to lift the suspension but only under some conditions. These included WFI's re-covening of the elections its Athletes' Commission. The candidates who will be part of this commission shall either be active athletes or retired for less than four years.
However, those who vote shall in all conditions be exclusively athletes only. While a leeway has been provided to place these elections either during trials or senior national championships, under all circumstances, it would happen on or before July 1, 2024.
"The WFI has to immediately provide UWW with written guarantees that all wrestlers will be considered for participation without any discrimination in all WFI events, in particular trials for the Olympic Games and any other major national and international events. This non-discrimination includes the three athletes who protested against alleged wrongdoings by the former President," the official statement added.
Indian Wrestlers Allowed To Compete Under Country's Flag
The decision by UWW now implies that Indian wrestlers who could not compete in competitions under their country's flag will now be allowed to do so at the next UWW event. While suspended, the Indian wrestlers were competing under a UFF flag. Meanwhile, even if Indian athletes won the gold medal, there was no provision for a national anthem to be played. All such arrangements stand null and void post the world wrestling body's decision.