Vinesh Phogat, one of India’s top female wrestlers, has said that her federation president and many coaches have sexually abused different athletes. At the Commonwealth Games, Phogat won three gold medals.
At a public event on Wednesday in New Delhi, Phogat and many other well-known male and female wrestlers came forward with their accusations to the public.
Because of what Brij Bhushan She said the head coach, Sharan Singh, who is also an MP for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, was to blame (WFI).
She said the WFI president and coaches sexually assaulted female wrestlers at national camps. At least ten to twenty girls from the national camp came to me and told me their stories.
The charges come months after the national cycling team coach was fired after being accused of sexual harassment.
Phogat said many Indian wrestlers did not come forward because they were too ashamed of their lower social status.
They are afraid because of the way they were brought up. They can’t beat them because they are too strong.
They don’t let us struggle, which is the only way to make money. The question is, “Now or never?” Might as well help other people while you’re still alive,” she said.
She didn’t say anything about how she was a victim.
Sakshi Malik, an Olympic bronze medalist in wrestling, agreed with the claims.
“Athletes work hard to win medals for the country, but the federation has only let us down,” she said in a tweet.
Local media reported that Singh denied the charges and said he was “ready to hang” if a female wrestler could prove he sexually harassed her.
Reports say that the Indian government’s Ministry of Sports has asked the federation to explain the charges within the next three days.
A guy who won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics and also took part in the protest, Bajrang Punia, said Singh runs the federation autocratically.
The job of the federation is to help the players in every way possible, taking care of their different sporting needs. He wrote on Twitter that the problem, if there is one, needs to be fixed.
But what if the Federation is the one that caused the problem? Now is the time to go to war, and we will not give up without a fight.