Sanjay Singh, close aide of Brij Bhushan, appointed as WFI president

Sanjay Singh, a close aide of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, was on Thursday elected as the new president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). Singh, who has served as the vice president of the UP Wrestling Association, secured 40 out of 47 votes over Anita Sheoran.

Anita is a Commonwealth Games gold medallist. Singh was a part of the WFI's last executive council and its joint secretary since 2019.

Singh and his associates said that they had the support of wrestling federations from most states, according to a report by news agency PTI.

Besides the top post of president, elections were held to fill up posts for a senior vice-president, four vice presidents, a secretary general, a treasurer, two joint secretaries, and five executive members.

Brij Bhushan, member of Parliament (MP) for BJP and former chief of WFI, was earlier found liable for prosecution for sexual harassment, molestation, and stalking of women wrestlers. The wrestlers had accused Bhushan of sexually harassing them, including juniors.

Several wrestlers including Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, and Vinesh Phogat held a protest against Bhushan in New Delhi. However, it was officially called off on June 7 when Anurag Thakur, India's sports minister, assured them that none of the family members or close associates of Bhushan would be allowed to enter the WFI election fray.

Notably, Bhushan's son Prateek and son-in-law Vishal Singh did not enter the race, but the nomination of his aide Singh was cleared.

The process for the WFI election began in July, but it was delayed due to pending court cases. This led to the international wrestling body suspending the WFI. The Supreme Court (SC) had recently set aside a stay imposed by the Punjab and the Haryana High Court, allowing it to conduct the elections.