A day after the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) withdrew the country’s team from the upcoming World Championships, citing government “interference” in its autonomy (or should that read freedom to misgovern?), the affected grapplers on Friday made what looks for all intents and purposes a futile plea, seeking Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya’s intervention to resolve the issue.
All 12-affected wrestlers, a few accompanied by their parents, reached the minister’s residence here to demand his intervention, PTI reports.
The senior World Championship in 12 non-Olympic categories is scheduled to be held in Tirana, Albania from October 28.
With very few days left for the competition to begin, the wrestlers also tried to file a petition in the court but arrived late.
“We have come to the Sports Minister’s residence. We hope that he will listen to our plea. What is our mistake and why should we be deprived of such a major competition” Manisha Bhanwala (65kg) told PTI.
The WFI had on Wednesday withdrawn the Indian team from the World Championships, conveying to world governing body UWW that the Sports Ministry is interfering with its “autonomy”.
The WFI had recently announced selection trials for the U23 and World Championships, which was challenged as contempt of court by the protesting wrestlers, including Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and her husband Satyawart, who had questioned the legality of the selection by the WFI.
