Me too allegations: wrestlers refuse to budge, demands for WFI chief’s sacking

New Delhi: The agitating wrestlers on Friday reached out to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), demanding the formation of an enquiry committee to probe the allegations of sexual harassment against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a day after threatening to lodge multiple FIRs against the WFI chief.The protests by top wrestlers against the WFI chief entered the third day on Friday.
Vinesh Phogat was mentally harassed and tortured by the WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh after she missed out on an Olympic medal in Tokyo. Following this, she almost contemplated suicide, said a memorandum submitted by the protesting wrestlers to IOA president P T Usha.Moreover, the protesters alleged financial misappropriation on the part of the Federation. The coaches and sports sciences staff that the federation president puts in the national camp are “absolutely incompetent.” “They are just his informants and they create a very bad atmosphere in the National camp,” the wrestlers claimed. The protesting wrestlers made it clear that they would not budge until the federation president is sacked.
The IOA has called for an emergency executive council meeting to discuss the demand of the protesting wrestlers. They are expected to meet Sports Minister Anurag Thakur again on Friday evening. Thakur has meanwhile cautioned Singh against making any statement to the media as it will further complicate the situation with wrestlers. However, Singh has stuck to his stand to not relinquish the post. “The protest by wrestlers against me is the dharna of Shaheen Bagh,” Singh, who is also a sixth-time Lok Sabha MP from UP’s Kaisarganj constituency, told reporters in his native place here. Singh also termed the protest in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar an attack on BJP rchestrated by the Congress party. Earlier speaking to a TV channel, he had said, “The protesting players have become a toy in the hands of Congress and Deepinder Hooda.