WFI Chief Sanjay Singh blames wrestlers' protest for India’s below-par performance at Paris Olympics 2024

Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Sanjay Singh has blamed the wrestler's protest as a key reason for India’s below-par performance at the Paris Olympics 2024. The head of the WFI was speaking on Wednesday (Aug 14) in the national capital as he blamed the wrestlers for hampering their chances in preparations for the quadrennial event. India won a bronze medal in the Paris Olympics in wrestling and could have added one more medal to the cabinet had star wrestler Vinesh Phogat not been disqualified in the 50kg women’s freestyle event.

"If you look at it from the other angle, the protests that took place for 14-15 months, the entire wrestling fraternity was disturbed. Let alone one category, the wrestlers in other categories struggled as they could not practice without national and international tournaments. Hence, the wrestlers could not perform well,” Sanjay Singh said at an event in Delhi.

India sent six wrestlers to the Paris Olympics with five competing in the women’s category while Aman Sehrawat was the sole representative in the men’s category. Aman won bronze in the 57kg men’s freestyle category but there were no medals for the women’s contingent.

According to Sanjay Singh, India could have done better had they not concentrated on the wrestler's protest, which made the headlines in the build-up to the Olympics. For the entire 2023, wrestlers were seen protesting against then-WFI chief and Member of Parliament from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The WFI was banned by the United World Wrestling (UWW) which saw wrestlers get depleted of preparations and participation from several events during the majority of the year.

Despite all the chaos surrounding the WFI, India could yet clinch two medals at the Paris Games which concluded on Sunday. While Aman had already won the bronze, Vinesh, who was disqualified, filed a petition for a silver medal at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS). If she is successful in her appeal India will bag two medals in wrestling from the Paris Games.

On the flip side, Aman’s medal on Friday also meant that India has won at least one medal in wrestling for the fifth consecutive Olympics having started the tradition in the Beijing Games in 2008.