In a petition filed by the Assam Wrestling Association (AWA) before the Gauhati High Court, AWA has accused the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) of not giving the state body affiliation even after a recommendation from the executive committee of WFI nine years ago.
AWA claimed that it has been actively involved in promoting wrestling in Assam and organised various national as well as state-level events on behalf of WFI for several years.
The state association is entitled to be an affiliated member of WFI, but the matter has been pending for long.
The state sports body stated in the petition that AWA is yet to be affiliated to the WFI despite a recommendation made by the then executive committee to the general council of the WFI at a meeting held in Gonda in Uttar Pradesh in 2014.
AWA has alleged that several efforts were made to address the issue with the WFI, but the matter of affiliation has been kept pending for the last nine years.
Meanwhile, the federation announced that July 11 was the date of the election for the executive committee of WFI and the last date for receiving nominations was fixed as Sunday.
The state association challenged the election date announced by the WFI and mentioned in the petition that unless AWA becomes an affiliated member of WFI, the state body cannot send its representatives to the electoral college.
“In such a situation, the wrestlers from Assam shall be deprived of participation in any national tournaments organised by the WFI,” the petition said.
Based on the appeal of the Assam Wrestling Association, the Gauhati High Court on Sunday directed the WFI not to proceed with the election of its executive committee till July 17, when the matter will again come up for hearing before the court.
