‘Future is dark’: Vinesh Phogat, other wrestlers disappointed as Brij Bhushan’s aide becomes WFI president
After Brij Bhushan Sing's aide Sanjay Singh became the president of WFI, wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, and Bajrang Punia expressed disappointment
The victory of Sanjay Singh in the recently concluded Wrestling Federation of India's (WFI) presidential elections has come as a major setback for the wrestlers who have been protesting against former WFI chief and sexual harassment accused Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
A panel of Sanjay Singh won the WFI election by 40 votes while the other panel got only seven votes.
The new WFI president, Sanjay Singh is known to be a close aide of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Soon after the announcement of the election result, top wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, and Vinesh expressed their disappointment over Singh's victory.
Expressing regret over the WFI presidential election result, wrestler Vinesh Phogat said that the future of wrestling is dark. She also added that all the efforts made to make wrestling a safe space for women went in vain after Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's close partner was elected as WFI president.
Phogat also said that they had minimal expectations from the elections, but they had a hope of getting justice. “It's saddening that the future of wrestling is in the dark. To whom shall we convey our grief? We are still fighting,” Vinesh Phogat said at a press conference held after the announcement of the WFI president elections results on Thursday.
The wrestlers expressed their disappointment over the victory of Sanjay Singh in the WFI presidential elections held today. “If Brij Bhushan Singh's business partner and a close aide is elected as the president of WFI, I quit wrestling,” said Sakshi Malik as she broke down while addressing the media on Thursday.
Highlighting one of the demands from the protest, Sakshi Malik said that they wanted a “woman to be elected as the president of the WFI.”
“If the president would be a woman, harassment would not happen. But, there was no participation of women earlier and today you can see the list, not even a single woman was given a position. We had fought with complete strength but this fight will continue. The wrestlers of the new generation have to fight,” Malik said.
In another interview with a television channel, wrestler Bajrang Punia said that they wanted justice from the government, but that has not happened. He also said that now a close partner of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has become the president of WFI, and later “Brij Bhushan will also get a clean chit from the investigation”.
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Business NewsNewsIndia‘Future is dark’: Vinesh Phogat, other wrestlers disappointed as Brij Bhushan’s aide becomes WFI president
First Published:21 Dec 2023, 05:15 PM IST
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