Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik quits wrestling after Brij Bhushan aide Sanjay Singh wins WFI elections
Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik quits wrestling after Brij Bhushan aid Sanjay Singh wins WFI elections
Rio Olympics bronze medalist Sakshi Malik on Thursday (December 21) said she is quitting wrestling after Sanjay Singh, a close aide of former chief Brij Bhushan Singh was elected as the president of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). Since the protest started Sakshi had a stand against Brij Bhishan Singh and his aides to step down from the federation’s administration roles. However, with Sanjay Singh elected as the new president of the WFI, she decided to quit wrestling and announced her retirement in an emotional press conference where she broke down in tears.
Sakshi quits wrestling
“In the end, we slept for 40 days on the roads but I’d like to thank the several people of our country who came to support us during the protests earlier this year. If Brij Bhushan Singh’s business partner and a close aide is elected as the president of WFI, I quit wrestling…” an emotional Malik told media in a press conference in New Delhi.
Earlier, the saga surrounding the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections finally came to an end as Sanjay Singh after Sanjay Singh got the better of Anita of Sheoran. The news was a major development in Sakshi signing off from wrestling as she opposed the succession of Brij Bhushan Singh's aid. With the vote counting taking place immediately in the aftermath of the elections, Sanjay Singh gained the majority votes to succeed his close friend and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Brij Bhushan.
With a new president, the ban imposed by the United World Wrestling (UWW) could now be lifted with much relief to Indian sports. Wrestlers were earlier banned from competing under India’s flag in wrestling due to the ban imposed by the UWW on WFI.
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Year of chaos for WFI
The protests had begun in January 2023 by top wrestlers like Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and others in the epicenter. The cluster of top wrestlers wanted then-President Brij Bhushan to be thrown out of power for sexual harassment charges against him. The protests were first held at the iconic Jantar Mantar in New Delhi while the attention then switched to the holy city of Haridwar (210 km North of New Delhi). Protestors even protested in New Delhi during the inauguration of the new parliament building of India on May 28.
