Credit: Twitter
Vinesh Phogat, the gold medalist wrestler for India at the Commonwealth and Asian Games, has slammed Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the former President of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) for getting provisionally suspended with immediate effect on August 24, Thursday. The governing body of the sport in India, which was supposed to conduct elections, couldn’t fulfil its responsibility after multiple delays, which led to United World Wrestling (UWW) taking its membership away.
The WFI elections were due to be held in June, but it was postponed because of multiple legal challenges put forth by the various state units for wrestling in the country. The rescheduled date for the elections was August 12, but this time, the petition from the Haryana Wrestling Association (HWA) led to the Punjab and Haryana High Court putting a stay on the proceedings until further orders.
As a result, the UWW provisionally suspended WFI, which means that the Indian wrestlers will compete at international events under the flag of the UWW.
Vinesh Phogat, took to her official Twitter account, to share her disappointment at the current state of affairs in Indian wrestling, calling out Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in the process. Her tweet, translated to English, read, “The amount of damage caused to Indian wrestling by Brij Bhushan Singh, if properly assessed, will come to light. The Tricolour has been insulted because of a mafia.”
Moreover, Vinesh Phogat has pulled out from the upcoming Asian Games 2023 wrestling competition, after sustaining a knee injury, which will require surgery to repair. In her statement, she stated that the injury occurred during training on August 13, which led to the doctors informing her that surgery was the only option for recovery, forcing her to withdraw from the 19th edition of the Asiad next month.
