Wrestlers knock on IOA door as WFI chief digs in

The revolt by India’s top wrestlers reached the doors of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Friday, with the grapplers making charges of sexual harassment and mental torture against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, prompting IOA to set up a seven-member panel to probe the allegations

The revolt by India’s top wrestlers reached the doors of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Friday, with the grapplers making charges of sexual harassment and mental torture against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, prompting IOA to set up a seven-member panel to probe the allegations.

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The wrestlers — they include Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya and Sakshi Malik, and world championships medallists Vinesh Phogat and Deepak Punia — also continued their deliberations with the Union sports minister Anurag Thakur for a second straight day, and were locked in a late-night meeting with him till the time of going to print.

The WFI chief, Singh, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Uttar Pradesh, meanwhile, scheduled a press conference on Friday afternoon, then postponed it three times, and finally called it off, even as members of his camp threatened action against the protesters and their supporters.

As the unprecedented show of player power continued for the third straight day against alleged violations by sports officials, the champion wrestlers, in a letter addressed to IOA president PT Usha complained that several young wrestlers have come to them with accounts of sexual harassment by the WFI president. They also raised charges of “financial misappropriation”, of Vinesh being “mentally tortured” by Singh after she failed to win a medal at the Tokyo Olympics, and of coaches and sports science staff in the national camp being “informants” of WFI chief rather than having any sporting credentials.

This was the first time in the last three days that the wrestlers put their allegations down in writing.

“We request IOA to immediately appoint a committee to enquire into the complaints of sexual harassment; resignation of WFI president and dissolution of WFI,” the letter said. It called for a new committee being formed to run the affairs of WFI “in consultation with the wrestlers”.

The letter led to IOA calling an urgent meeting of the executive council under its new president and track legend Usha. The meeting was also attended by Beijing Olympics gold medallist and International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Abhinav Bindra as a special invitee.

After a discussion, the executive council appointed a seven-member committee to probe the allegations of sexual harassment against Singh. The committee will be led by Athletes Commission (AC) chairperson and boxing legend MC Mary Kom. The other members from the IOA executive council on the panel are Alaknanda Ashok, Olympic medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, Olympian archer Dola Banerjee, Sahdev Yadav, and advocates Shlok Chandra and Talish Ray.

“It was unanimously agreed that IOA must not get carried away by media trials. The EC unanimously decided that a committee will be formed in accordance with the Prevention of Sexual Harassment of women act (2013) and must hear both sides and submit a report to the IOA president,” IOA said in a statement.

Later in the evening, an under-fire Singh called a meeting of WFI at his home town Gonda, even as he kept postponing his scheduled press conference through the day. Meanwhile, his son, Pratik Bhushan Singh, said that Brij Bhushan will speak to the media after a WFI meeting on January 22. “We are not formally authorised to speak on this issue. He (Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh) will address the media on January 22 at the Annual General Meet of WFI. We have given our official statement to sports ministry,” Pratik said.

But insiders in the federation said that WFI, under Brij Bhushan, was planning to go on the offensive by taking “tough action” against the agitating wrestlers during the meeting on Sunday. “WFI has decided to take action against these wrestlers, who are holding the federation hostage. They don’t want to follow the rules and regulations of WFI and want to run the body on their whims and fancies. We are not going to succumb to any pressure,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

On Thursday, WFI alleged that protesting wrestlers were spreading “misinformation” and trying to stop other athletes from participating in the National Ranking Tournament that begins in Gonda on Saturday.

The wrestlers met sports minister Thakur for a second time after a nearly four-hour long late-night meeting on Thursday in which they were unable to reach a solution. The second meeting, which began at around 9pm on Friday, was on till at least midnight.

Speaking for the wrestlers earlier in the day, Punia said no political party is backing them, and they are fighting for their rights.

“We are sad that the athletes have to sit here in protest leaving their practice. It is a very important year for us with world championships, Olympic qualifiers, and the Asian Games scheduled. One missed day of practice means a big loss. We want a quick resolution to be found and we can go back to our training,” said the Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist at Jantar Mantar.

“WFI is trying to give this fight a political turn. But let me assure you that no political party or businessman is behind us. We are on our own and our fight is only against the Wrestling Federation of India. We appeal to the PM, home minister and sports minister to hear our demands,” Punia added.

Some athletes from other fields lent their support to the wrestlers on Friday, with Olympic medallist boxer Vijender Singh, who is also a Congress leader, paying a visit but not sitting on the dais. Boxing world champion Nikhat Zareen, boxing CWG gold medallist Amit Panghal, and badminton star Jwala Gutta posted comments on social media backing their compatriots.

While Zareen and Gutta extended their support, Panghal said: “Exploitation of wrestlers is very unfortunate for game and country. With you all my fellow players.”