WFI Elections 2023: Who Are The Top Candidates & When Will The Results Be Announced?

Add as a preferred source on Google

WFI Election 2023 is finally set to take place on Thursday (December 21) after a long delay. The elections were delayed several times due to different reasons, including a serious charge levelled against the outgoing president.

India's top wrestlers including Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshee Malikkh, had brought up serious charges of alleged sexual harassment against the WFI's outgoing president, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Meanwhile, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had stayed the elections in August on a day prior to the scheduled polling date of August 12 following a petition filed by the Haryana faction over voting rights.

On November 28, the apex court cleared the way for holding the elections, with returning officer, Justice (retd) Mahesh Mittal Kumar, announcing the newdate after the Supreme Court vacated the stay order challenging the conduct of the elections.

The United World Wrestling (UWW) - had suspended the WFI in late August, due to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA)-appointed ad-hoc committee's failure to hold elections on time.

This resulted in Indian wrestlers being forced to compete as 'neutral athletes' at the Belgrade World Championships in September and the other UWW-sanctioned ranking series as well as international events.

The WFI is still under suspension from the UWW and the ban would only be lifted after the successful completion of the electoral process. However, all that could change as the election is finally set to take place. Here is all you need to know about WFI Elections 2023:

Who are the top candidates in WFI Election 2023?

With Brij Bhushan Singh not being eligible to contest after serving three terms as president, his loyalist Sanjay Singh is pitted against former Commonwealth Games gold medallist wrestler Anita Sheoran for the president's post.

While Sanjay Singh is the UP wrestling body's vice-president, Anita is is backed by the country's top wrestlers, who had accused outgoing WFI president Brij Bhushan of sexually exploiting women grapplers during his tenure.

For the secretary general's post, it is expected to be a two-way contest between Railways Sports Promotion Board's (RSPB) Prem Chand Lochab and Chandigarh state unit's Darshan Lal. For the treasurer's post, it will be a contest between Satya Pal Singh Deshwal from Singh's faction, and Dushyant Sharma from Anita's group.

Where and what time is the election taking place, and when is the counting starting?

As per the circular issued by the assistant returning officer Tapas Kumar Bhattacharya, the polling will be held on the December 21 in the Basement Hall of the IOA Building at B-29, Qutub Institutional Area, New Delhi, from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM IST, while the counting of votes will start from 1:40 PM IST.

Who will be the office bearers in WFI?

Article V of the WFI constitution says that the office-bearers of the federation shall be as follows: i) President (1), ii) Senior Vice President (1), iii) Vice Presidents (4), iv) Honourary Secretary General (1), v) Honourary Treasurer (1), vi) Honourary Joint Secretaries (2), and vii) Executive Members (5).