Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh stated he desires to set the instance of wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who has to point out trigger for his alleged refusal to be with the Indian group on the Tokyo Olympics. He didn’t put on the official group uniform for his matches.
Singh sought a much bigger function within the planning of the Paris Olympics, accusing personal our bodies like Olympic Gold Quest and JSW Sports of sidelining the federation, together with the goal Olympic podium plan. Excerpts from an interview:
Has there been any additional progress on the Vinesh difficulty?
We have despatched it to our disciplinary committee, which is able to name Vinesh, Sonam and Divya Kakran. It’s straightforward to say ‘I made a mistake’. But why did you make that mistake and why? These are senior wrestlers Vinesh, by her lawyer, replied and stated that she didn’t stick with the Indian group for the betterment of different wrestlers in order that they don’t are available in contact with the virus. Well, possibly it was for the great of others. But then why did not she put on the costume? Because of that mistake, he must know what I needed to undergo, what occurred to me.
what occurred to you?
After the Deepak Punia incident, when his coach thrashed an official, I needed to seem earlier than a fee, consisting of members of the United World Wrestling and International Olympic Committee. I had to ensure the group did not get derailed. I informed him that there isn’t a case the place our wrestlers have violated any rule and expressed remorse however he requested me, ‘How do you run the union. Your wrestler isn’t carrying the (official) outfit’. She might have misplaced a medal if she had gained. This isn’t any small incident. I needed to beg and make pleas.
Read | WFI offers mistaken numbers for coaches, physios
Do you suppose that is additionally a difficulty of gender equality? There was just one coach for 4 feminine wrestlers, however seven for 3 male wrestlers and assist workers.
The Indian Olympic Association had set a restrict on the variety of coaches and physios that may go.
But as president of the federation, do you suppose it was proper for 4 girls to get only one coach?
You can ask this to (Assistant Secretary Vinod) Tomar ji. [Tomar: “We had one chief coach and common freestyle coaches for both teams.”] And in case you are coming to the problem of Vinesh not having his private physio on the Olympics, he did not inform the federation who his physio was. Unless he tells us, how will we all know?
Vinesh has written a number of emails to the Federation with all the main points.
He gave these provides to TOPS, by no means on to us. We ought to have given him.
Emails are…
It has by no means occurred that Vinesh has approached the federation. This is my cost in opposition to TOPS. They are immediately taking care of the problems like the place the athlete ought to go for coaching.
So it’s not a matter of planning itself, it’s simply that Vinesh, in line with you, despatched the proposal to TOPS and to not WFI?
If we had a plan, I might have despatched my total group. Bajrang and Vinesh had been two very senior wrestlers. His rating was going as much as the primary class on the Olympics. He thought a sure plan was higher for his future so he informed TOPS, who then informed us.
Read | Vinesh Phogat’s plight factors to a sports activities tradition that reveals little similarity in victory or defeat
Talking concerning the plan, the federation had organized just one nationwide camp for ladies wrestlers from April.
Tell me, is there another federation aside from me that conducts residents throughout a pandemic?
That’s a unique subject. Between April and July, there was just one nationwide camp for ladies that lasted lower than two weeks.
I do not keep in mind correctly. Anshu (Malik) went to coaching in some nation after the nationwide camp, Poland I believe after which both Russia or Belarus. I despatched the entire group. Vinesh was earlier coaching in Hungary. I do not thoughts his coaching overseas however neither the Indian coach nor the federation was taken into confidence. He took TOPS into confidence.
A males’s coach (Rajeev Tomar) went to the Tokyo Olympics because the coach of the ladies’s group.
No, he did not go as girls coach however on account of some motive he was made girls coach quickly.
What was the explanation?
That Tomarji will inform you. [Tomar: He was there at the pre-departure camp in Sonepat. Since there is no difference in men’s and women’s freestyle wrestling, we had common coaches for both teams and he was one of them.]
Vinesh’s efficiency has been superb. Is banning an athlete from world championships a good punishment?
I’m not his enemy and I’ve nothing private in opposition to him. however IOC ke saamne jo jaleel aur beijjat hona pada… How might she put on a unique outfit? He is sufficiently old to know that there’s a correct outfit for each match. We need to see different wrestlers as nicely. Indian wrestling isn’t depending on anybody wrestler. We need to ensure that nobody makes such mistake in future.
Read | Vinesh Phogat broke the silence, stated – everybody outdoors is treating me as if I’m a useless factor … a medal (misplaced) and every part is over
But then, even WFI has made errors previously.
What mistake has WFI made? WFI has by no means finished any mistake in life. No one can level to a single mistake made by us.
One instance is through the Olympic qualifiers earlier this 12 months. The girls’s group arrived just a few hours earlier than the bout, needed to drop some pounds on the airport terminal, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat …
It’s the little issues on the subject of the schedule, when a group has to succeed in its vacation spot. What can I do about this?
A couple of years again there was one other occasion the place a physio needed to compete within the qualifiers for the Rio Olympics as India didn’t have sufficient representatives.
I haven’t got sufficient paperwork throughout this time. But if WFI is making errors then you need to know that each different federation within the nation is making 10 occasions extra errors.
Do you need TOPS to be included in wrestling?
Yes, they’re wanted. But no matter program they make, the top coach and the federation ought to be taken into confidence.
How do you see the function of OGQ, JSW and so on.?
We do not want OGQ and JSW. They have spoiled three wrestlers, I cannot take their names. When the Indian authorities is able to spend on athletes, why do we want them? They can assist junior and cadet wrestlers who really want assist. Not solely those that are near profitable the massive medal. They are usually not spending as a lot as the federal government, which has spent round Rs 85 crore on wrestlers. My greatest drawback is that they do not inform me who they’re sending as sparring companions.
If a wrestler is related to any of those, what’s their future?
Bilkul nahi khelne doonga (Won’t allow them to play).
There is nobody like (Tokyo Silver Medalist) Ravi Dahiya…
I’m additionally giving one lakh rupees per thirty days to Ravi. From how a lot will you get cash? We are prepared to offer you every part. If they nonetheless wish to be a part of, they need to share a duplicate of their settlement with the gamers and take our views into consideration.
Vinesh Phogat needed to face defeat within the quarterfinals on the Tokyo Olympics. (file)
Vinesh had despatched a number of emails to WFI concerning the plans
While JSW Sports didn’t remark, OGQ responded to WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan’s allegations, saying that they had a robust junior program and weren’t claiming undue credit score. He additionally clarified that Vinesh Phogat had despatched a bunch of emails to the WFI to tell them about their plans and to maintain them within the loop.
OGQ response:
OGQ has been supporting wrestlers Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Deepak Punia for the previous 6 years since they had been 17 and 16 years outdated respectively earlier than they each got here into limelight.
OGQ runs the biggest junior program within the nation the place we assist the coaching of over 100 junior athletes within the age group of 11-19 years in varied sports activities. In reality, inside wrestling, 23 of the 32 wrestlers we at the moment assist are junior wrestlers within the age group of 13-19 years throughout 7 completely different academies in Haryana and Maharashtra. We have been supporting PV Sindhu since she was 14 and Lakshya Sen when she was 10.
Sarkar and Sai are undoubtedly the most important and most essential stakeholders within the Olympic Games. We have repeatedly stated that the federal government, SAI and TOPS are doing a terrific job particularly through the Tokyo Olympic cycle within the final 5 years. They have wonderful bureaucrats and leaders like Sandeep Pradhan, DG, Sai and Commander. Rajagopalan, CEO, TOPS.
One of probably the most placing options of the final 5 years throughout this complete Tokyo Olympic cycle has been the teamwork between all of the stakeholders concerned within the Indian sport. Non-profit organizations such because the Sports Authority of India (SAI), nationwide sports activities federations and OGQ have labored intently with one another to make sure that athletes obtain the absolute best assist, that every one gaps are coated and that no type of assist is on the market. isn’t overlapping. For instance, in Mirabai Chanu’s case, SAI, Weightlifting Federation of India and OGQ labored in shut collaboration to ship her twice to St. Louis, USA to coach within the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympics.
To our data, a number of emails had been despatched by Vinesh himself to WFI and TOPS within the final 10 months. These emails contained detailed details about coaching plans for Tokyo, Vinesh’s coach and assist workers, and sparring companions.
Finally, in the identical spirit of teamwork and collaboration that was talked about earlier, we despatched a proposal to WFI on 24 March 2021 to work on 3 predominant features – Junior and Cadet preserving in thoughts the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics Keeping wrestlers in thoughts for a very long time, sports activities science and coaches .
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
