Wrestling

“After completing the investigation by the Delhi Police, the charge sheet was presented in the court on June 15. The legal battle of the wrestlers will continue in the court instead of on the road until justice is served. “Regarding the reform in WFI, the election process, as promised, has begun. We will wait for fulfilment of promises made by the government regarding the July 11 elections,” the statement by the wrestlers on twitter read.

In its petition, the Assam Wrestling Association claimed that despite recommendations made by the then WFI Executive Committee at the association's General Council meeting in UP's Gonda on November 15, 2014, it had been denied membership despite being entitled to it. 

The Budapest event is the fourth and last ranking series of the year. According to reports, her name was cleared in a meeting between the ad hoc committee which runs the sport and officials from the government's TOP scheme on Tuesday. Vinesh, along with Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia and Rio Games bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, has led the wrestlers' protest against former WFI president.

Vinesh took to Twitter to post a picture of a famous poem written by Pushyamitra Upadhyay. "#WeWantJustice," she wrote along with the picture. The 28-year old Phogat has been one of the faces of the wrestlers' protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh against whom a chargesheet was filed on June 15 for stalking and sexual harassment of women wrestlers.

In the letter, a copy of which is with IANS, the IOA has asked Justice (Retd) Mahesh Mittal to "confirm" his appointment as the returning officer to conduct the elections. WFI President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is facing charges of sexual harassment by India's top wrestlers, completed three tenures (12 years) in office.

"There's huge pressure on us to compromise," Sakshi told a television channel, claiming that people close to Brij Bhushan have been calling and threatening them. She claimed that the father of the complainant minor wrestler is suffering from depression because of the pressure put on him to withdraw the complaint.

This comes after the Patiala House Court had sought an Action Taken Report (ATR) from the police on a complaint by a social activist and chief of Atal Jan Shakti Party seeking registration of an FIR against the wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, and Sakshi Malik for pressing "false allegations" of sexual harassment against Wrestling.

"They (wrestlers) have demanded that the investigation (into the charges against the WFI chief) should be concluded and a charge sheet be filed by June 15. WFI elections will be held by June 30," Thakur told reporters after a marathon meeting with the protesting wrestlers.

"Our protest will continue... The government has asked for time till June 15. We are hopeful of a favourable outcome. If the government fails to deliver the outcome in the given time, we will discuss it with our seniors and plan the future course of action," Bajrang told IANS.

On Monday, Olympians Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat took umbrage to such suggestions and claimed that the people who are trying to discredit them and force them to give up their fight for justice are now coming after their jobs. In similarly-worded statements, the top wrestlers claimed that when "life is at stake, job is a small thing".