Wrestling Federation of India President Sanjay Singh has claimed that the wrestlers protest against sexual harassment by former WFI president and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Brij Bhushan Singh had affected their performances. The remark comes at a time when Vinesh Phogat, who was among the athletes who led the protest, awaits a decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to get a shared silver medal after she was disqualified to compete in the gold medal bout over variations in her body weight for the 50-kg category. According to the WFI chief, known to be close to Brij Bhushan Singh, India could have won six more medals in the wrestling events at Paris Olympics,
“India could have won 6 more medals in wrestling but given the disturbance in the sport over the last 15-16 months, we lost many medals. We are hopeful that the CAS verdict will be in our favour. WFI wants the verdict to be in India's favour because it is the country's medal, not someone's personal medal,” he said.
Holding Vinesh Phogat responsible for maintaining her weight, Sanjay Singh said the category of the sport was the player's personal decision. “Maintaining that weight also rests on the player. Gaining and reducing weight quickly takes a toll on the body of the player. She was given every facility she asked for, including training with a foreign coach in Hungary," he added.
According to rules by United World Wrestling (UWW), wrestlers have to give two weigh-ins— one before the competition starts on day one and the other before the medal matches on day two. Vinesh, in an unusual move, had contested both 50 kg and 53 kg weight categories in the national trials held before the Olympic qualifiers. Another round of trials, which was supposed to be held after the Olympic qualifiers, was not conducted by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). The federation said that athletes who secured an Olympic berth in the qualifiers would remain as it is. As a result, Vinesh got the ticket to Paris under the 50 kg weight category.
A day after her heartbreaking disqualification, Vinesh Phogat's lawyer had told the Delhi High Court that Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and it's president Sanjay Singh was at the Olympics village in Paris, taking proxy decisions for Vinesh. He said that this was despite the WFI’s elected executive committee being suspended in December 2023 by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. “WFI is being manned by proxies and Sanjay Singh was deciding what should happen to Vinesh Phogat,” he added.