Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 25 (ANI): Former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Friday said that the suspension of WFI by the United World Wrestling (UWW) is a "huge blow" for the country. 

United World Wrestling on Thursday suspended the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) with immediate effect in the wake of a delay in holding elections.

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"This is the first time in India's history that the United World Wrestling (UWW) has suspended the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). This is a huge blow for the country. We pray for the country to recover from this at the earliest," Brij Bhushan said on UWW's decision.

Earlier, Olympic medallist Yogeshwar Dutt termed the suspension of the WFI as “very distressing”, and said that the Indian wrestlers' will suffer because of it.

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"When you talk about suspension of WFI, we have to note that the Asian Games and World Championships are around the corner. Even if our wrestlers win there, our country will suffer because the quota will go to some other nation. It will be a huge loss," he said on Thursday. 

UWW took the decision as WFI “failed to conduct elections" in the specified duration.

The election of WFI was originally slated to be held on August 12. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has stayed the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections till August 28.

The stay order came in the wake of a petition filed by the Haryana Wrestling Association (HWA) which challenged the move to allow the Haryana Amateur Wrestling Association to cast votes in the WFI polls.

The WFI's elections have been delayed due to controversies surrounding WFI.

Elections for the federation, which oversees wrestling in India, were initially planned for June this year. However, demonstrations by Indian wrestlers over sexual allegations against the then WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and legal lawsuits from several state units led to the postponement of polls.

An ad hoc committee set up by the Indian Olympic Association is running the affairs of WFI at present.

Amid the protest by wrestlers over their sexual harassment allegations, UWW had warned in May that if elections to the Wrestling Federation of India are not held within the specified duration, it may suspend the federation. (ANI)

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