Follow rules and directives of international federation, world Olympic body tells Indian Olympic Association on wrestling issue

Weeks after calling the treatment of the protesting wrestlers ‘very durbing’, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) once again urged the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to ‘address’ the issue working ‘closely’ with the United World Wrestling (UWW) following its ‘rules and directives’.
The IOC’s statement came after its executive board meeting on Wednesday, following which the world body also noted the IOA’s failure to appoint a full-time chief executive or a secretary-general.
The, though, IOC did not warn of any consequences if the IOA does not address both these issues.

“The NOC of India has been requested to liaise and work closely with the International Federations in order to address a number of ongoing issues affecting Indian Sports Federations, in a coordinated manner and in accordance with the rules and directives of the International Federations concerned. This includes, in particular, the situation of the Wrestling Federation in India,” the IOC said in a statement.
On Wednesday, the IOA deferred the wrestling federation elections five days to July 11 to solve the disputes within state bodies. The wrestlers, meanwhile, have returned to training and are preparing to compete in the selection trials for the Asian Games after pausing their protests against former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has been accused of sexual harassment women wrestlers.

The new IOA committee, led PT Usha, has also not been able to appoint a full-time CEO or secretary-general as mandated its constitution since it came into power in December 2022. All India Football Federation president Kalyan Chaubey has been nominated as an acting CEO but the post hasn’t received the IOC’s approval.
“The NOC of India has been directed on many occasions to finalise the appointment process of the new CEO/Secretary General without any further delay, in accordance with the NOC Constitution, so as to normalise the situation within the NOC. Unfortunately, the NOC has yet to complete this process. The IOC continues to monitor this issue,” the IOC said.