I'm done with wrestling, says ex-WFI chief Brij Bhushan

Former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Sunday said he is "done" with the sport and the newly-elected body will now take care of it as he has many more responsibilities to look into, including next year's Lok Sabha elections.

Brij Bhushan's comments came soon after the Union sports ministry suspended the WFI until further orders after the new body made a "hasty announcement" of organising the U-15 and U-20 nationals "without following due procedure and not giving sufficient notice to wrestlers" for preparations.

The ministry also said the new body was working under "complete control of former (WFI) office-bearers", which was not in conformity with the National Sports Code.

The WFI elections were held on 21 December with Brij Bhushan's loyalist, Sanjay Singh, and his panel winning the polls by large margins.

"Whatever has to be done with regards to wrestling in India, it has to be done by the new elected body," Brij Bhushan told PTI. "I have nothing to do with the sport now. I have other responsibilities to focus now. I will be away from the politics of this sport," he added.

Brij Bhushan is the sitting BJP MP from Kaiserganj in Uttar Pradesh. Some of the top wrestlers of the country — Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik — had led an agitation against him earlier this year after accusing him of sexual harassment of female wrestlers.

Punia returned his Padma Shri award to the government on Friday in protest over Sanjay Singh's election as WFI chief. On Thursday, Sakshi Malik quit wrestling for the same reason.