LUCKNOW: Amid sexual harassment allegations, Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Chairman and BJP MP Brijbhushan Sharan Singh inaugurated the Senior Open National Ranking Tournament of wrestling as a chief guest at Nandini Nagar Stadium in Gonda on Saturday. He was welcomed and garlanded before taking the stage.
The three-day championship is witnessing a congregation of wrestlers from across the country. The championship will comprise Freestyle and Greco-Roman in Men’s category while Freestyle in the women’s category, said the sources. Brijbhushan Sharan Singh was accompanied by his MLA son Prateek Bhushan, WFI vice-chairman Karan Bhushan Singh, BJP MLA Ajay Singh and Paltu Ram.
WFI joint secretary, Vinod Tomar claimed that though Singh was present during the event, he had stepped aside as the WFI chief. He said so far there had been no decision on the dissolution of the Federation and there would be an annual general meeting of the federation in Ayodhya on Sunday.
WFI chairman is alleged of sexual harassment, intimidation of players and financial misappropriation. High-profile wrestlers and WFI coaches of the country registered a huge protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi for four days seeking the ouster of Brijbhushan Sharan Singh from WFI.
While Singh, the BJP MP from the Lok Sabha constituency of Kaiserganj, refuted all the charges and refused to resign as an accused, Union Sports minister Anurag Thakur and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) announced two different committees to look into allegations levelled against him.
Addressing a press conference at his residence last evening, Anurag Thakur assured wrestlers that justice would prevail after the probe committee would submit its report in four weeks. Thakur had also said that the WFI chief would step aside till the probe was on and he would cooperate with the committee which would also oversee the day-to-day workings of the federation.
Following the announcement by the minister, wrestlers called off their protest.
On the other, the wrestlers had also written a letter sharing their grievances with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president P T Usha. The IOA met and formed a seven-member committee to probe into allegations against Singh. Members of the committee include Olympic medallist Mary Kom, former archer Dola Banerjee, Alaknanda Ashok, Olympian Yogeshwar Dutt, Indian Weightlifting Federation President Sahdev Yadav and two advocates.