Wrestlers' Protest: IOA to host Executive Council meeting on Thursday to discuss WFI elections

The Indian Olympic Association will host an Executive Council meeting on Thursday to discuss the Wrestling Federation of India's (WFI) election process and other activities, informed the body's president PT Usha on social media amid Wrestlers' protest against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in New Delhi.

IOA was earlier on Monday directed by the Sports Ministry to form an ad-hoc committee to conduct the WFI elections and carry its day-to-day activity. The ministry, led by Anurag Thakur, made the announcement a day after the wrestlers staged a second sit-in in three months. The ministry also stalled WFI's election on May 7.

PT Usha said the Olympic body decided to hold the meeting at the earliest and find "actionable solutions" to the current impasse in WFI. Wrestlers, meanwhile said, they don't have faith in the ministry and IOA and are willing to move the Supreme Court seeking an FIR against Brij Bhusan over sexual harassment charges.

"In light of the letter received from GoI-MYAS, IOA undertakes the urgency of the matter. Our scheduled EC meet on 27 April will discuss & provide actionable solutions to the current impasse in WFI. IOA is committed to the betterment of our sportspersons & its sporting ecosystem," Usha tweeted.

The ministry's decision came after the country's top wrestlers, including Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat, resumed their sit-in protest here on Sunday and demanded the public disclosure of the findings of the oversight panel that investigated the sexual harassment allegations against WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Following allegations of sexual harassment and intimidation against Brij Bhushan by the top wrestlers, the ministry had formed a six-member oversight committee headed by Olympic medallist boxer MC Mary Kom to run the affairs of WFI and probe into the matter.

The wrestlers, however, claimed that the panel never contacted them while Sports Ministry officials stopped taking their calls as well since Thakur mediated to call off the first protest in January.

With inputs from PTI