Wrestling takes bigger hit as federation mess continues
The world has moved 365 days ahead but wrestling has not moved a day. The sport has remained stagnant ever since the start of protests in January and culminated in another bizarre episode on Sunday. After numerous warnings from the United World Wrestling (UWW), the court paved the way for elections at the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Thursday. Three days later, the sports ministry suspended the WFI. Under pressure, former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is facing sexual harassment charges from the top wrestlers, said he was retiring from all affairs related to wrestling. What baffles is the question what stopped him from doing it earlier this year; things could have been different if he had.
The signs were ominous when Singh’s panel came into power with a resounding 13-2 win in the 15-member committee. The protesting wrestlers—Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, and multiple World Championships medallist Vinesh Phogat—were stunned after their candidate, former Commonwealth Games champion Anita Sheoran, was beaten 40-7 by Brij Bhushan’s close aide Sanjay Singh. Only the posts of senior vice president and secretary went to the wrestlers’ faction. Sakshi announced her retirement and Bajrang returned his Padma Shri in protest.
Opposition MPs started supporting the wrestlers and things looked rather embarrassing, and had started taking a political turn before the sports ministry stepped in. What irked the new secretary and perhaps intimidated the wrestlers was the haste with which the WFI acted. The new WFI executive committee cancelled all decisions taken by the last ad hoc panel that was running the sport before the elections. The WFI chief called for junior nationals in Gonda, Brij Bhushan’s stronghold. Then he announced the senior nationals. The secretary cried foul and said the decisions were taken without his knowledge and were against the constitution. The UWW has already suspended the federation for third-party interference.
In the end, it is the wrestlers who suffered the most. There were hardly any national camps. Barring a handful, including Vinesh, Sakshi and Bajrang, there were hardly any exposure trips for senior wrestlers. The juniors were the worst affected. Since the U15 and U20 nationals were not held this year, their one year of training went waste. Understandably, jobs based on wrestling performances took a hit and, without medals to show, promotion and other remunerations would have stopped.