The Wrestling Federation of India has announced the dates for the national trials to pick the team for the Senior Asian Championships and the Asian Olympic qualifying event, both scheduled to take place in Kyrgyzstan in April this year.
The national trials will take place on 10-11 March at the IGI Sports Complex, New Delhi, as informed in a statement released by the WFI chief Sanjay Singh. The trials will also be used to pick the Indian squad for the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships, to be conducted in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) from 11 April to 16 April and the Asian Olympic Games qualifier, scheduled for 19-21 April at the same place.
The part of the statement that grabbed eyeballs was the invitation sent out by the suspended WFI chief Sanjay Singh to wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, who had announced her resignation the day Singh was appointed as the WFI President, to take part in the trials. The list of players eligible for the trials, attached by WFI had the names of these three wrestlers, who have been raising their voices against the wrestling body for a long time.
In his statement, Sanjay Singh said, "I would like to inform all affiliated units of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) that the selection trials to select the teams for participation in the following events are being conducted on 10th and 11th March 2024 at K.D. Jadhav Wrestling Indoor Stadium, IGI Sports Complex, New Delhi."
He further added, "All state units are requested to intimate the wrestlers as per the list attached to participate in the said trials."
The three ace wrestlers protested against Brij Bhushan Singh, and demanded his arrest, alleging that he had sexually harassed female wrestlers. In response to the protest, the Ministry of Sports, last year, suspended the Wrestling Federation of India and established an ad-hoc committee to look after the operations.
After the fresh elections were organized last year in December, Sanjay Singh was elected as the chief of the newly elected body. However, three days after the elections, the federation was suspended by the Sports Ministry.
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