Amidst rumours of his resigning and wrestlers accusing him of pressurising them to end the protest and the Delhi Police of high-handedness, beleaguered Wrestling Federation chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh finally spoke to the media, saying it was orchestrated by a political-industrialist nexus.
Denying any plan to resign – a cosmetic move more than anything else given the incumbent WFI board has been replaced by an Ad-hoc committee and Singh himself declaring he won’t contest the next elections – the strongman from Gonda also accused the wrestlers of wanting preferential selection for international events, something firmly denied by Commonwealth Games 2022 gold medalist Vinesh Phogat.
“I have been wrestling since 2009 and in the 14 years since then, I have only skipped four national championships.
I can list them -- 1st was after Rio Olympics because of injury, 2nd before the Tokyo Olympics because of Covid, then after Tokyo because of depression and treatment and then last year after the World Championships,” Vinesh said.
“I don’t consider myself special to demand any such thing. Bajrang (Punia) is a bigger athlete than me and even he never skips trials.
He says we want to go directly to international competitions but I have never gone out without proving myself at home. No one is bigger than the country But this fight is for respect and justice,” she, running a slight fever and a sore throat, added.
Even as political heavyweights including Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi visited the protest site, the wrestlers had last night claimed police had disconnected their electricity.
“They are not allowing food, water or mats inside, trying to break us. And this is not about competition or participating, it is about sexual harassment, why doesn’t he answer that?
He has also said he knows what statement and complaint the minor has made, how is that possible? And we are still asked to trust the police and committees,” fellow wrestler Bajrang Punia questioned.
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