CHENNAI: The unofficial meeting of state wrestling associations scheduled in New Delhi on Thursday turned out to be morale booster for the sidelined Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. At least one representative from almost all state units were in attendance in the gathering which first began at Brij Bhushan’s residence and later headed for a posh hotel in the vicinity.
“All state units decided to apprise the Prime Minister, home minister and other authorities concerned of the issues ailing Indian wrestling. We will write to PM, HM and others informing them about the fallouts of the ongoing mess,” one of the office-bearers from a state unit, who was present in the meeting, told this daily. The members, whose names have been sent to returning officer for preparation of the electoral college for WFI election, also decided to stay united.
“Efforts were made to break us when the election process was on. A few of us received calls from various government agencies forcing us to include names of their individuals in the electoral college. We didn’t budge and today we have once again vowed that we will not give up,” said another office-bearer. The gathering stayed in the hotel for around one-and-a-half hours and had lunch while discussing the way forward. Most of them left the national capital soon after the informal meeting got over.
“You cannot make other wrestlers to suffer just because a few protesting grapplers have been promised something by a top government official. No national camps have been held so far, forcing wrestlers to train at their respective akhadas. This will have a big impact on our wrestlers’ performance in the upcoming events like Asian Games and World Championships. The aim is to get the federation functional in the best interest of wrestlers,” said another office-bearer.
Trials announcement after OCA reply Meanwhile, the ad-hoc committee formed by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to run the day-to-day affairs of the WFI, met national coaches including Jagminder Singh (men’s freestyle), Hargobind Singh (Greco-Roman) and Virender Dahiya (women’s wrestling) in Meerut (Uttar Pradesh) on Thursday afternoon.
As was reported by this daily, the coaches spoke against the one-bout trials proposed by the panel for the protesting wrestlers. However, panel member Bhupender Singh Bajwa assured them that a decision in this regard can be taken only after Olympic Council of Asia’s reply on IOA’s request to extend the date of filing final entries for the Asian Games.
“Discussion was held on U-17 Worlds scheduled next month and support staff who will accompany the team. On selection trials for Asiad and Worlds, Bajwa said a call can be taken only reply from the OCA,” said a source in the know of developments.
