The Sports Ministry has suspended Sanjay Singh, president of the newly formed Wrestling Federation of India.
The action has been initiated due to concerns about transparency and other matters.
The U-15 and U-20 Nationals are scheduled to take place in Gonda, as announced by Sanjay Singh, the recently elected President of the Wrestling Federation of India.
Singh, who was elected WFI president on Thursday, is well-known to be connected to Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the wrestler who was previously accused of sexual harassment by Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and Bajrang Punia.
Singh won the majority of the votes in the postponed elections, giving Bhushan indirect control over the wrestling federation. The tournaments indicated above have also recently been announced, and this has happened without adhering to WFI’s constitution.
Senior female wrestlers as well as former WFI President Brij Bhushan Singh have been accused of sexual harassment. The wrestlers in question successfully rallied a significant number of supporters from various societal segments to oppose him gaining authority within the WFI.
However, their planned protest on May 28—the day the Delhi police removed all protestors from Jantar Mantar for rioting—failed to materialize.
Anurag Thakur gave them the assurance that none of Brij Bhushan’s relatives or close friends would be permitted to participate in the WFI poll. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to have been the case.
“Union sports minister had stated on record that no one associated with Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh will be allowed to fight in the election,” wrestler Bajrang Punia stated. Brij Bhushan’s assistant emerged victorious in the WFI elections. Although I have faith in our legal system and hope he is punished by the law, I fear they will now also spare him from the case.
Wrestler Sakshi Malik also voiced her displeasure, claiming that the government had broken its commitments.
“A female president is something we have demanded. Harassment would cease if a woman were elected president. However, women did not participate earlier, as you can see from the list today; not a single woman was awarded a spot. Even if we fought with all of our might, the battle will go on. The younger generation of wrestlers need to compete, she stated.
Malik also added that she will not play the sport anymore. “If Brij Bhushan Singh’s business partner and a close aide is elected as the president of WFI, I quit wrestling,” she said. Before leaving the news conference in tears, Sakshi took off her shoes and placed them on the dais.
An emotional Sakshi declared, “I am dejected and I will not be competing in wrestling anymore”. After thanking those who had shown support during the protest, she announced her decision to retire from wrestling.
As a gold medallist in the CWG, the 31-year-old continued, “We wanted a female president but that did not happen.”
In their post-election media conference, Bajrang and Vinesh Phogat refrained from mentioning their intention to withdraw from competitive cycling.
Saying that no Brij Bhushan loyalist would run in the WFI poll, Bajrang expressed regret that the administration had broken its promise.
How Sanjay Singh became poerful:
With his party easily taking the majority of the seats in the postponed elections, Sanjay Singh took over as President of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Thursday, thereby giving outgoing Chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh indirect control over the sports organization.The vice president of the UP Wrestling Association, Sanjay, received 40 votes, easily outnumbering his opponent Anita Sheoran, who managed only seven.
wrestlers like Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, and Bajrang Punia were deeply disappointed by the poll results. They felt that their protest against Brij Bhushan was in vain, even though they actively pushed for a change of leadership, and now that a close BJP MP associate is leading again, their protest was in vain.