Mary Kom To Lead Panel To Handle Wrestling Physique Affairs Amid #MeToo Row | Wrestling Information

Boxing nice and Olympic medallist Boxing nice Mary Kom will likely be main the sports activities ministry’s Oversight Committee to handle day-to-day affairs of wrestling physique amid #MeToo row. The ministry on Saturday had directed the Wrestling Federation of India to droop “all ongoing activities with immediate effect”, together with the Rating Event in Gonda, UP, Sharan’s stronghold. It additionally suspended Wrestling Federation of India’s (WFI) assistant secretary Vinod Tomar, a fallout of the grapplers’ allegations of sexual harassment and corruption in opposition to the sports activities physique’s chief, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Final week, union sports activities minister Anurag Thakur had introduced the formation of the oversight committee after a prolonged assembly with the protesting wrestlers together with Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, Babita Phogat, amongst others.

“It has been decided that an oversight committee will be formed. Names for which will be announced tomorrow. The committee will complete its investigation within four weeks. The wrestlers put forward their demands. I have assured them that appropriate steps will be taken. All allegations of sexual harassment and financial misappropriation will be probed,” Thakur mentioned in a press convention on Saturday.

“Till the investigation is over, he (Singh) will step aside and co-operate with the investigation and the oversight committee will run the day-to-day affairs of WFI.”

Earlier,  the Indian Olympic Affiliation (IOA) shaped a seven-member committee to probe wrestlers’ allegations of sexual harassment in opposition to federation president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Mary Kom is the chairman of that panel too. Indian Weightlifting Federation of India (IWLF) president Sahdev Yadav, archer Dola Banerjee, Olympic medal successful wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt are a part of the panel amongst others. The committee may even have two legal professionals. The panel will first discuss with the protesting wrestlers after which the WFI earlier than reaching any conclusion.

Vinesh Phogat, the primary Indian lady wrestler to win gold in each the Commonwealth Video games and the Asian Video games, on Wednesday had mentioned that “national coaches molested female wrestlers over the years and were given death threats by WFI officials.” She together with different prime Indian wrestlers sat a large protest on the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi from Wednesday the place they known as for the elimination of the WFI president from the publish.

Rio Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik, world championship medallist Sarita Mor, Sangeeta Phogat, Anshu Malik, Sonam Malik, Satyawart Malik, Jitender Kinha, Amit Dhankar and CWG medallist Sumit Malik have been among the many wrestlers who assembled on the well-known protest website.

“It’s better to die once rather than slowly dying everyday. We are not able to sleep at night as we have no idea whether we are going to participate in the competition or not. Whether we will be going to the national camp or not. We doubt that these coaches and their supporters may spike our food and we may get positive during the doping test,” Vinesh Phogat earlier instructed NDTV.

“So we are worried about all these things. As the president Brij Bhushan ji was saying that he is innocent, I am telling you that we have sent numerous mails to him but he never replied to any of them. Now do we have to go to his room for each and everything?”

Vinesh, a world championship medallist and Olympian, additionally claimed that a number of coaches at a nationwide camp in Lucknow have exploited ladies wrestlers, including that there are a number of ladies on the camp who strategy wrestlers on the behest of the WFI President.

“Some coaches are close to  the national federations. Those coaches have exploited young girls. Don’t know how many young girls have suffered due to them,” Vinesh said.

The 28-year-old although clarified that she herself has not confronted such exploitation however claimed that she had obtained dying threats on the behest of WFI president from officers near him as a result of she dared to attract Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s consideration to a number of points plaguing Indian wrestling when she met him after the Tokyo Video games.

“I know at least 10-20 women wrestlers who have told me about the sexual exploitation they faced at the hands of (the) WFI President. They told me their stories. I can’t take their names now but I can definitely reveal the names if we get to meet the Prime Minister and the Home Minister of the country,” Vinesh mentioned.

“I have received death threats from people who are close to the WFI President. If anything happens to any of us sitting here, only the WFI President will be responsible.”