Wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Friday accused the WFI of trying to prevent her from participating in Olympic qualifying events by creating logistical hurdles for her support staff, but the federation has strongly denied the accusation and claimed she was sending in entries after the deadline had passed Application was made later. Fugate, 29, who won a gold medal in the 50kg category at the 2018 Asian Games and bronze medals in the 53kg category at the 2019 and 2022 World Championships, also said she was concerned about being caught up in a doping case.
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) said Phogat’s request email – to certify her coaches and physiotherapists – was sent on March 18, but by then it had already sent entries from players, coaches and medical staff to World Wrestling Management Institutional UWW as the registration deadline is March 11th. A WFI official said the federation sent the entries around March 15 after the UWW relaxed the deadline slightly on its request as the trials were completed only on the last day of the deadline.
Fugate is aiming to secure an Olympic quota in the 50kg category at next week’s Asian qualifying tournament in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
At the trials in Patiala, after the authorities allowed her to compete in the 53kg category, she also competed but lost in the semi-finals.
“Brij Bhushan and his dummy Sanjay Singh are trying every possible means to prevent me from participating in the Olympics. All the coaches appointed by the team are Brij Bhushan and his The team’s favorite coach, so there’s no denying they’re probably going to the Olympics.” Mix something in my water and make me drink it during games? ” Phogat wrote a lengthy post on his “X” page.
“It would not be wrong if I said there might have been a conspiracy to get me into doping trouble.” Fugate claimed her personal trainer and physiotherapist were denied access to the Asian Olympic qualifying tournament, which starts on April 19.
“For the past one month, I have been requesting the Indian government (SAI, TOPS) to certify my coach and physiotherapist. Without certification, it would not be possible for my coach and physiotherapist to accompany me to the competition venues,” she said. explain.
“But despite my repeated requests, I didn’t get any concrete answer from anywhere. No one was willing to help. Will the future of the players keep being toyed with like this?” “No effort was spared to mentally harass us. In such an important game How justified was it to torture us like this before?” she asked.
To clarify the federation’s stance, a WFI official told PTI on condition of anonymity that the federation would not object if Phogat wanted to travel with her personal trainer and physiotherapist but she herself would have to get UWW after the deadline The authentication sending entry has ended.
“Her email was primarily sent to the task force and TOPS CEO, although the federation was also tagged in it. She sent the request on March 18, but the federation had already signed up support staff by that time.
“Moreover, we did not get any instructions from the ministry or SAI to add Fugate’s coaches to the list. If we had had any such instructions, we could have tried. After all, the mail was mainly addressed to them .
“Look, we can send three coaches to coach 10 wrestlers. There are already nine coaches in Bishkek for 30 wrestlers for the Asian Championships, and the same group of coaches will also be participating in the Asian qualifiers, and the Asian qualifiers We will only have 5 female wrestlers competing in the tournament. Five wrestlers and three coaches aren’t enough? “Why send extra coaches? But if Vinesh wants her personal trainer to be in Bishkek, she can try to get it done from UWW. A WFI source added that men’s freestyle wrestler Deepak Punia, who won a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships, has also asked his personal trainer to accompany him. Greco-Roman coach Anil made a request and Pandit was also hosted.
“They have also sent similar mails but we have not received any instructions from the government whether they need to be accommodated. It is not that Vinesh is being singled out. We are being fair to all,” the official said.
Fugate was one of the country’s three top wrestlers who led a protracted protest against former World Wrestling Federation chief Brigitte Bhushan Sharan Singh, accusing him of sexually harassing female wrestlers.
After Delhi police filed a case against Brij Bhushan, a local court granted him bail in July.
She wonders if the difficulties she now faces are due to the protests she led alongside Olympic bronze medalists Byanag Punia and Sakshi Malik.
“Will we face politics for speaking out against sexual harassment before playing for our country? Is this punishment for our country to speak out against wrongdoing? “I hope we get justice before we play for our country. nation. “
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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