New Delhi: Sanjay Singh, a close aide of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, was elected as the new president of the WFI on Thursday, December 21. The election, which had been postponed several times earlier in the year, was held in New Delhi.
Yogeshwar Dutt, a wrestler, led the second panel, which received 7 votes in contrast to Singh’s panel’s 40 votes. After the win, Singh said, “This is a victory for the country’s wrestlers. I hope wrestling competitions will resume after the formation of the new federation, which was stalled for the last 11 months.”
Former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh congratulated Singh on his victory and said, “This is not my personal victory; this is the victory of the country’s wrestlers. The one who has to take the message should take it. It was dominant and will remain dominant. It’s God-given.”
However, wrestler Sakshi Malik, who was part of the second panel, broke down while speaking at a press conference after the results were announced. She said, “We have demanded a woman president. If the president was a woman, there would be no harassment. However, earlier there was no participation of women, and as you can see from today’s list, not a single woman was given a position. We fought with all our might, but the fight will go on. The next generation of wrestlers will have to fight.”
Singh, who was earlier serving on the executive council of the WFI, has also been the joint secretary of the national federation since 2019. He now has the task of reviving wrestling in India, which has been in a state of disarray for the past few months.