Amid WFI conflict, Croatian series at stake : The Tribune India
Tribune News Service
Vinayak Padmadeo
New Delhi, January 23
The ongoing battle between some prominent wrestlers and the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has almost extinguished the country’s hopes of participating in the Zagreb Open Ranking Series.
Mary Kom at the helm of the probe panel
- Six-time world champion boxer MC Mary Kom has been appointed to head the monitoring committee that will look into the allegation of sexual harassment against WFI chief Bri Bhushan Sharan Singh
- Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, former badminton player Trupti Murgunde, former SAI ED Radhica Sreeman and former TOPS chief Cdr Rajesh Rajagopalan (retd) have been appointed to the board
The tournament is scheduled to start on February 1, and the Indian team has not yet received a visa to travel to Croatia for the tournament.
As per the original plan, the team which included Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya, Jitender, Sangeeta Phogat and Vinesh Phogat was scheduled to take off on January 28.
However, a protest against alleged sexual harassment of female wrestlers and the subsequent closure of the WFI secretariat by the Ministry of Sports ended any faint hopes of the team reaching the venue on time. Sources confirmed to The Tribune that WFI’s first request for The Croatian embassy refused the visa and before they could request an urgent correction or get ministries, including sports and foreign affairs, to support their travel plans, the secretariat was closed. The team must come to Zagreb no later than January 31 for the coach’s meeting, and a day late would mean dismissal. Even if the government manages to get travel documents in time, few among the protesting wrestlers — Bajrang, Ravi Kumar, Jitender, Vinesh Phogat, Sangeeta Phogat, Anshu Malik and Sangeeta Mor — will definitely miss the tournament as they have not joined the national training camps.
Six-time world champion boxer and London Olympic bronze medalist MC Mary Kom was on Monday appointed to head the Monitoring Committee to probe the sexual harassment allegation against Wrestling Federation of India chief Bri Bhushan Sharan Singh. The committee, which was appointed after a delay of more than two days, will also manage the ongoing affairs of the association. London Olympics bronze medalist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, former badminton player Trupti Murgunde, former SAI ED Radhica Sreeman and former TOPS chief Cdr Rajesh Rajagopalan (retd) have been appointed to the board.