WFI chief Sanjay Singh blames protest for wrestling's poor show in Olympics

Sanjay Singh, the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), has attributed India's below-par performance in wrestling at the Paris Olympics to the recent protests by the Indian wrestlers against sexual harassment allegations.

India secured only one bronze medal in wrestling by Aman Sehrawat in the men’s 57kg freestyle category.

India missed another medal after Vinesh Phogat, a leading figure in the protests against former WFI president Brij Bhushan, was disqualified from the 50kg women's freestyle event on the day of her gold medal bout. Vinesh had weighed 100 grams more during the weigh-ins. 

Sanjay said the 15-16 month-long protests caused disruptions in tournaments and practice. 

"India could have won six more medals in wrestling, but given the disturbances in the sport over the last 15-16 months, we lost many medals," he stated.

He further placed responsibility on Vinesh Phogat for her disqualification, stating, "The category of the sport was the player's personal decision."

Vinesh had contested in the 50kg category after Antim Panghal had clinched the 53kg quota earlier. WFI had selected the Olympic squad based on the quota winners instead of doing it through trials. 

Antim, the only female player to get a seeding at the Paris Olympics, bowed out in the first round losing to Zeynep Yetgil of Turkey.

Aman Sehrawat is the only Indian wrestler to win a medal at the Paris Olympics. 

Vinesh's plea for a shared-silver is currently pending in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which decided to announce the verdict on August 16. 

Sanjay expressed the WFI's desire for a favourable CAS verdict, stating, "WFI wants the verdict to be in India's favour because it is the country's medal, not someone's personal medal. It will be added to India's medal tally."