The decision of the ad hoc committee of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to exempt wrestlers who had sat on a protest from the full selection trials for Asian Games was slammed on Friday by coaches, parents of wrestlers and an Olympic medallist.
The ad hoc panel has written to the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) asking if the July 15 deadline for entries could be extended by a month only for wrestling. This was as per the request of the protesting six – Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sangeeta Phogat, Sakshi Malik, Satyawart Kadian and Jitender Kinha – who wanted time to prepare and face only the winners of the trials in a one-off bout for the Asian Games and World Championships selection. The six have been demanding the arrest of former federation president Brij Bhusan Sharan Singh for sexual harassment of women wrestlers.
While lack of time can be an issue for the Asian Games’ trials, there should be no problem for the world championships in Belgrade from September 10,which is also a qualifier for the Paris Olympics. The last date for sending entries is August 16.
The panel’s decision was criticized by London Olympics bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt, who is part of the IOA executive council. “I don’t understand why only six wrestlers have been given the exemption. It is absolutely wrong and unfair. It is unprecedented and never happened in Indian wrestling. I don’t understand what the criteria the ad-hoc panel has followed for the trials,” Dutt said in a video posted on Twitter. Dutt, who was part of the Union sports ministry’s oversight committee running WFI till April, said an exception should not have been made for being in a sit-in protest.
“If you are exempting any wrestler, there should be a criteria. If you want to give exemption, there is also Tokyo Olympics medallist Ravi Dahiya, CWG medallist Deepak Punia, Worlds medallist Anshu Malik, Sonam Malik and so many top wrestlers. Was the protest against sexual harassment charges or for seeking exemption in trials? The IOA panel has not followed any rules and criteria before taking such a decision,” he said. He also called on other wrestlers, who will be taking part in the trials, to write to sports minister Anurag Thakur. Source: HT