"Will commit suicide if allegations are found to be true": WFI President refutes claims of sexual assault

"As soon as I came to know about the wrestlers protesting in Delhi I booked a flight and flew down to the national capital from Lucknow. I was not aware of the problems raised by the wrestlers but I still flew here as it's important for me to be here. If the allegations against me are true why hasn't anyone come forward to voice this?" said the President while speaking to reporters.

Denying the claims by the wrestlers of their sexual assault, Singh said, "I read that the name of the chief coach has also been taken in sexual assault allegations. I also read that the reason for the players' camp being held in Lucknow is so that they can be called at my home. I do have a home in Lucknow but I hardly reside there. My home is 120-130 kms away from Lucknow. All the sexual harassment allegations are false and I will commit suicide if they are found to be true. I tried to get in touch with the wrestlers, including Bajrang Punia but was unable to do so."

Notably, Vinesh Phogat on Wednesday alleged that coaches who are favourites of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) misbehave with women and harass them. She also accused the wrestling federation chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexually harassing girls and calling her a 'khota sikka' after her defeat at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

On the sidelines of a sit-in protest against the WFI near Delhi's Jantar Mantar, Phogat said, "Coaches are harassing women and some coaches, who are favourites of the Federation, misbehave with women coaches as well. They sexually harass girls. The WFI president has sexually harassed many girls."

"After my defeat in the Tokyo Olympics, the WFI president called me a 'khota sikka'. The Federation mentally tortured me. I would entertain thoughts of ending my life every day. If anything happens to any wrestler, the WFI president will be to blame," she added.

The President mentioned that the wrestlers protesting at Jantar Mantar have resorted to protests after certain new rules regarding the participation of players in the national trials tournaments for seats in the Olympics were implemented.

"I have always aided players from states that do not have the required infrastructure and lack support. I want to ask that neither will you compete in the nationals, or open nationals nor participate in trials and want special treatment for selection. Other wrestlers behind whom their parents invest so much are also looking to play in the Olympics, Asian games and World Tournaments. And if there was so much inconvenience from the Wrestling Federation then why did it not surface in the last 10 years? Such allegations surfaced after we made the call to implement certain rules after studying the wrestling federations all over the world. The WFI decided to implement specific rules to ensure that players who have been working hard in domestic tournaments get an equal opportunity to represent India at the Olympics or other major tournaments," said Singh.

The Wrestling Federation President stated that the body felt the need to make certain changes in the rule regarding the participation of wrestlers through the Olympic quota.

"After the Olympics, we felt the need to bring a rule to decide which wrestler will represent India at the Olympics after studying the various Wrestling Federations across the World," said Singh.

Explaining the rule he said, "If the wrestler bringing the Olympic Quota defeats the wrestler who has won the national trials, the quota will automatically go to him. But the wrestler who won the national trials will have to defeat the Olympic quota-bringing wrestler twice to qualify for the Olympics. All the wrestlers were notified about this and the decision was taken by an executive body in consultation with the coaches and wrestlers. "

Brij Bushan Singh alleged that the wrestlers including Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat etc demanded special treatment.

"Hosting a national tournament is expensive as it costs around 60-70 lakhs. Everybody wants to see Olympians and World Medalists at such games so that it attracts more crowd. The wrestlers sitting in protest have not played in any national tournaments, or open tournaments after returning. We decided that if a player wants to be a part of the camp they need to participate in the national tournaments. There were some players who said that they missed out on the national games as they were not aware of this rule. We arranged for them to be a part of the trials after telling the government and asking for their expenditure to be borne by the govt under the TOPS scheme. The govt demands that only four players should be in the national camp and there is pressure to implement that," mentioned the WFI President.

Expressing that the wrestlers met him and did not state any concerns regarding the implementation of rules, he said, "They have complained about shifting from one weight category to another but the four players who have won the nationals also have to go through it and they too aim to play for India in major tournaments. They did not raise any concerns with the Federation either through writing or by meeting the concerned authority. Bajrang Punia met me a week earlier and did not complain. Sakshi Malik did not have any issues and asked for her name to be included in the trials, to which I agreed gladly. There are allegations that earlier two teams of Haryana used to play and now it doesn't. That step was taken so that other states who participate also have a fair shot at the podium finish. States ranking first, second and third earlier had the luxury of fielding two teams but was abolished so that everyone gets a fair opportunity." (ANI)