Former wrestler Narsingh Yadav elected chairman of WFI's seven-member athletes' panel

Former Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Narsingh Pancham Yadav elected chairman of Wrestling Federation of India's Athletes' Commission.

Former Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Narsingh Pancham Yadav was elected chairman of the Wrestling Federation of India's Athletes' Commission here on Wednesday, completing a process that was mandated by the sport's world governing body.

A total of eight candidates were in fray for the seven positions and after polling, conducted on ballot paper, seven members got elected. They then chose Narsingh as chairman of the commission.

Ahead of the 2016 Olympics, the Games-bound Narsingh had grabbed headlines when two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, who missed the qualification event due to an injury, requested for a trial bout against him.

Sushil moved the Delhi High Court and only after his appeal was rejected, it was confirmed that Narsingh would go to Rio Olympics.

However, in a shocking turn of events, Narshingh failed two dope tests prior to the Games and was banned for four years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport even though the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) had cleared him on the plea that his failed test was the result of sabotage.

The CAS decision came a day before his opening bout, forcing him to leave Rio de Janeiro without competing. The ban came to an end in July 2020 and he has maintained that the entire episode was a case of sabotage.

The other elected members of the athletes commission were Sahil (Delhi), Smitha AS (Kerala), Bharti Bhaghei (UP), Khushboo S Pawar (Gujarat), Nikki (Haryana), and Sweta Dubey (Bengal).