Sakshi Malik announced her retirement from wrestling on Thursday, after Sanjay Singh was appointed President of the Wrestling Federation of India.
Malik, who spearheaded the wrestlers’ protest against Brij Bhushan Singh along with Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat said that she would not compete under the presidency of Sanjay, who belongs to the faction supporting Brij Bhushan.
“We fought from our heart, but if a man like Brij Bhushan, his business partner and a close aide has been elected as the president of WFI, then I quit wrestling,” said a teary-eyed Sakshi, and kept her shoes on the table in a dramatic announcement.
“We wanted a female president, but that did not happen,” the 31-year-old, who is also a CWG gold medallist, added.
Ahead of the elections, Tokyo Games bronze medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi had repeatedly requested Sports Minister Anurag Thakur to stop anyone associated with Brij Bhushan from contesting the WFI polls.
Consequently, neither Brij Bhushan’s son Prateek nor son-in-law Vishal Singh entered the fray. “It’s unfortunate that the government did not stand by its word that no Brij Bhushan loyalist will contest the WFI election,” said Bajrang.
“Upcoming women wrestlers will also face exploitation,” feared Vinesh.
Vendetta will not be pursued
Brij Bhushan assured that no vendetta politics will be played and even if the protesting wrestlers want to continue wrestling, they will be treated with all fairness.
“There will be no partiality. All will get support from WFI,” Brij Bhushan told PTI when asked if the federation would support the wrestlers who had launched protests against him.
“We have to look after the game and not the mistakes of the wrestlers. If they will suffer due to their mistakes, then the federation will not be impartial,” he assured.
The elite wrestlers had managed to mobilise huge support from different sections of society during their protest but the agitation fizzled out the day they planned a march towards the new Parliament building on May 28 when Delhi police removed all the protesters from Jantar Mantar for rioting.
The wrestlers had officially called off their protest on June 7 when the Sports Minister assured them that none of the family members or close associates of Brij Bhushan would be allowed to enter the WFI election fray.
“It’s unfortunate that the government did not stand by its word that no Brij Bhushan loyalist will contest the WFI election,” Bajrang said adding that he is also not sure if he wants to continue his career.
Stage set for lifting UWW ban on WFI
The WFI elections will also pave the way for lifting the UWW ban on it. The world governing body of the game had banned WFI for not conducting elections on time, forcing Indian wrestlers to compete as neutral athletes at the 2023 World Championships.
with inputs from PTI
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