Narsingh elected as chairman of WFI athletes’ commission

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 24

World Championships medallist Narsingh Pancham Yadav was elected as the chairman of the Wrestling Federation of India’s (WFI) Athletes’ Commission today.

Narsingh, who served a four-year suspension due to a doping sanction, was one of the seven wrestlers who were elected in the panel on the sidelines of the Federation Cup being held in Varanasi.

Narsingh was made the chairman, while former India international Nikki was elected as the convenor as they were the two senior-most wrestlers of the group.

The other members of the commission are Sahil (Delhi), Smitha AS (Kerala), Bharti Bhaghel (UP), Khushboo Pawar (Gujarat) and Sweta Dubey (Bengal). There were eight candidates in fray. Jharkhand’s Rajiv Ranjan, who polled the lowest with nine votes out of 39, was the one to miss out.

Narshingh, bronze medallist at the 2015 World Championships, had won the Rio Olympics quota in the 74kg category. Two-time Olympics medallist Sushil Kumar had also shifted to that weight division. Staking claim at the Olympics berth, Sushil approached the Delhi High Court after the WFI refused to give him a chance but did not get a favourable court verdict.

However, Narsingh failed two dope tests in the lead-up to the Games and was served with a provisional suspension, pending a hearing by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA). Narsingh claimed that he was a victim of a conspiracy at the behest of Sushil and his doping violation was a result of that. While NADA cleared him of all charges, it was challenged by the world body (WADA) a day ahead of the competition in Rio, and he was banned for four years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

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