Wrestlers vs WFI: 'Know their pain; will try to get the solution that the wrestlers want' - Babita Phogat

Three-time Commonwealth Games (CWG) medallist and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Babita Phogat on Thursday sent a "message" from the government, assuring the wrestlers that their requests will be met. Her notification arrived after the elite grapplers pressed that the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) be dissolved. Top Indian grapplers, including three-time CWG champion Vinesh Phogat and the Olympic bronze medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, staged a protest at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi for the second straight day against the WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accusing him of sexual assault. Babita, a former wrestler, arrived at the protest, hearing the grapplers' injunctions.

"I will try to get the solution. I am a wrestler first and then a political person. I know their pain, and I will try to get the solution that the wrestlers want," Babita communicated. Bajrang, Anshu Malik, Sakshi and Vinesh have summoned that the WFI be dispersed and a new body is formed.

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Wrestlers including Bajrang, his wife Sangeeta, Vinesh, Sarita Mor, Anshu Malik, and Antim Pangal were invited to meet with Sports Secretary Sujata Chaturvedi a few minutes after Babita left the protest. On Wednesday, Vinesh had argued that the WFI chief had been sexually manipulating women wrestlers for years.

However, the charge has been vehemently denied by Brij. Vinesh also alleged that quite a few coaches at the national camp in Lucknow have also been involved in the same exploitation of women wrestlers.

(With inputs from PTI)