Sanjay Singh. (Credit: PTI)
Singh has mentioned that he would personally invite disgruntled wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik to participate within the Olympic Qualifiers trials and assured them that they might not be discriminated in opposition to regardless of what has transpired over the course of final 12 months.
WFI chief Sanjay Singh has mentioned that he would personally strategy and invite disgruntled wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik to participate within the Olympic Qualifiers trials, slated to be held in Maharashtra, and has assured that they won’t face any kind of discrimination.
Sanjay Singh, a Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh loyalist, was suspended by the sports activities ministry for flouting guidelines and laws pertaining to the internet hosting of the nationwide lower than per week after he was elected because the wrestling federation’s head. But, UWW, the worldwide governing physique for the game of wrestling lifted the ban imposed on Singh.
Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi determined to hold up her boots following the election of Singh after a 12 months-lengthy protest in opposition to Brij Bhushan over allegations of sexual intimidation and harassment of girls wrestlers.
“We have started planning to take Indian wrestling forward. We will soon organise trials for the Olympic Qualifying events in Maharashtra. The state has good infrastructure. I will ask Bajrang, Vinesh and Sakshi to forget everything and start preparing for trials and win medals for the country,” Singh mentioned.
“I will send all three wrestlers emails, WhatsApp messages and, if need be, I will call them. I will even ask Sakshi to reconsider her decision to retire and give it one more shot to win an Olympic medal. They will not face any discrimination,” the WFI chief reiterated.
Singh additionally make clear UWW’s resolution following the WFI’s attraction to the world wrestling physique to raise the ban.
“We told UWW that the suspension on WFI was imposed for not holding elections and now that the elections have been held, our status should be restored,” he mentioned.
As it stands, India have locked the Paris Olympics quota within the girls’s 53kg class by means of Antim Panghal whereas the chance to seize onto 17 extra weight classes throughout males’s freestyle, Greco-Roman and girls’s wrestling stays.
“We told them how the junior wrestlers are suffering and how India are going unrepresented in many weight categories at international events without a proper federation in place,” Singh added.
“They discussed the matter with the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and with the UWW Board on February 9. They agreed with our viewpoint and lifted the temporary suspension. Now there should not be any confusion about who the wrestlers should approach,” the WFI chief mentioned.
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Earlier, the SAI centre in Sonepat was supposed to carry the lads’s camp, whereas the Lucknow centre was presupposed to host the ladies’s camps. However, the WFI chief urged that it could possibly be moved to a special location.
“We feel Maharashtra has good infrastructure for men’s national camp. Let’s see if we can move it there. We will discuss it with the government,” Singh mentioned.
“The SAI centres are under the government, so we need their permission if the camps have to held at SAI centres. If we do not get permission then other arrangements have to be made,” he added.
