Sakshi Malik shared a cryptic post on the current situation in wrestling on Tuesday, insisting that Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) is back to governing the sport and things will go back to what it was before their protests against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the then federation chief, in January last year.
“With broken heart and mind, I welcome Sanjay Singh alias Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). Once again national camps will be held in Lucknow and Nationals will be held in Nandini Nagar….Nobody can stop them, they are bigger than the government and people of this country,” the 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist and one of the leading protesters against Brij Bhushan, posted on Facebook.
In the last few days, WFI has announced dates for selection trials to pick the Indian squad for the Olympic qualifier and Asian Championships and a list of wrestlers eligible to attend the trials. The list includes the three top protesting wrestlers, Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia, Sakshi and world championship medallist Vinesh Phogat.
This was in keeping with the United World Wrestling’s (UWW) condition that WFI should not discriminate against the protesting wrestlers, particularly Bajrang, Vinesh and Sakshi while lifting its suspension on February 13.
However, in an Olympic year with so much at stake, the wrestlers are grappling with confusion and uncertainty barely two weeks before the selection trials. Despite being reinstated by UWW, the federation remains suspended by the union sports ministry. IOA’s ad hoc panel still officially governs wrestling in India and it had fixed the trials for March 10-11 in Patiala and Sonipat. The suspended WFI has picked the same dates with Delhi’s IG Stadium as the venue. A year after the sit-in wrestling protests, things have got to a point where it is not clear who will pick the team for the Olympic qualifiers.
“We don’t know who is running the sport in the country. Who will select teams, whether it will be WFI or the ad-hoc committee. It is such a discouraging situation before the Olympic qualifiers,” said a coach whose trainee will participate in the trials.
WFI bosses have met sports ministry officials while Bajrang, who is training in Russia, has also spoken to the ministry top brass over the possible return of WFI. In a message on February 14, he requested that the government decide on the matter and “not force the wrestlers to protest again.”
The ministry has not reacted to UWW’s reinstatement of WFI, nor has it lifted the suspension of the Sanjay Singh-led body. “Unless the ministry lifts its suspension, the ad hoc panel will remain the deciding authority,” according to people aware of the development.
While suspending WFI on December 24, the sports ministry had said “WFI continues to be in the complete control of former office-bearers in complete disregard to the Sports Code.”
There have been voices within WFI as well, especially after it announced nationals in Pune, parallel to that held by the ad hoc body in Jaipur. Some WFI state units, including powerhouse Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Odisha chose to field teams for the Jaipur meet. “The wrestlers should not suffer. The sports ministry should find a way to solve this crisis. Things will be clear in a day or two,” a WFI official said.
Future of Bajrang, Vinesh
With its suspension by UWW lifted, WFI holds the right to send teams for international meets. For Bajrang and Vinesh to appear in the federation’s trials will be a setback as they had fought against the regime. It remains to be seen what their next course of action will be.
In the list issued by WFI, Vinesh has been put in the non-Olympic 55kg category in which she competed in the nationals of the ad hoc body and won, marking her injury comeback. Vinesh has spoken about entering 53kg for the Paris Olympics. A WFI official said: “Wrestlers will be allowed to change their weight class if they desire.”
Antim Panghal has already won the Olympic quota in 53kg, and in the current scenario it is not clear what the selection criteria for Paris will be. Though the Olympic quota is for the country, WFI had earlier said that the quota winner will go for the Olympics as has been the practice.
Even for Antim — the only Indian wrestler to win an Olympic quota so far — the situation can’t be more baffling. The ad hoc panel had exempted her from trials for the Asian Championships. WFI, however, has named her for the trials on March 10-11.
“There has been so much confusion since the last one year. So close to the Paris Olympics, the wrestlers are not clear about the selection process,” said another coach.