New Delhi: Former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s aide, Sanjay Singh, has been elected as its new president.The wrestling body held its election on December 21 after it was postponed multiple times over this year. The election was supposed to be held in August. Due to the delays, the United World Wrestling (UWW) had suspended WFI. With the election of a new governing body, UWW is expected to lift the suspension against WFI.According to ANI, the newly elected president said, “…national camps (for wrestling) will be organised. Wrestlers who want to do politics can do politics, those who want to do wrestling will do wrestling…”Sanjay’s remark was about wrestlers who had protested against and accused Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment for several months. “It’s a triumph for the thousands of wrestlers in the country who suffered in the past 7-8 months,” Sanjay said, according to PTI. Sanjay’s panel, which was backed by the former WFI president, defeated the panel led by Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anita Sheoran. Sheoran’s panel received support from the country’s top wrestlers who had accused Brij Bhushan Singh of sexual harassment.“The entire fraternity knows who has worked for the betterment of the sports and who has tried to cause damage. The work done by the WFI in the last 11 years is proof that the sport of wrestling has grown at a good pace in India. People will have that in mind when they will cast their votes,” Sanjay had said in the run-up to the election.Sakshi Malik, an Olympic medallist who was one of the faces of the protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, said she would quit wrestling. “We gathered a lot of courage for this fight against the WFI President (Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh). But today, his right hand (referring to Sanjay Singh) has been elected as the new WFI President. We had demanded a woman be made the president, but that has not been fulfilled,” she said.मैंने देश के लिए जितने भी पुरस्कार जीते हैं आप सब के आशीर्वाद से जीते हैं , मैं आप सभी देशवाशियों की हमेशा आभारी रहुंगी। 🇮🇳कुश्ती को अलविदा ।🙏 pic.twitter.com/yyO4lG59rL— Sakshee Malikkh (@SakshiMalik) December 21, 2023“It’s unfortunate that such people are getting elected to such positions in the country. Now, girls will be harassed again. It’s sad that even after fighting against it, we couldn’t bring any changes. I don’t know how to get justice in our own country,” said Sangeeta Phogat.Singh said he had “nothing to do with” Malik’s decision to quit wrestling.Note: This article was updated with Sakhi Malik’s statement after it was published.
