Delhi: After Brij Bhushan Singh’s panel won the National Wrestling Federation presidential election, wrestler Sakshi Malik took a tough decision. Sakshi Malik announced her retirement from wrestling at a press conference, broke into tears, took off her boots and left on the table.
Sakshi Malik said that the demand to elect a woman as the president of the wrestling federation was not accepted and if the president was a woman, the players would not have faced exploitation. We wrestlers protested on the streets for 40 days demanding the change of the president of the wrestling federation. The whole country supported our struggle. But what happened after the elections in the wrestling federation was that Sanjay Kumar Singh, a close follower and business partner of Brijbhushan Singh, became the president.
Sakshi Malik said that the next generation will continue the fight against the federation and there is no female presence in the wrestling federation. Sakshi left her boots in tears saying that she will no longer compete in wrestling for the country.
Brij Bhushan Singh’s panel had an official victory in the National Wrestling Federation elections. Sanjay Kumar Singh was elected as the president of the federation. Sanjay Kumar defeated Anita, the candidate of wrestling stars who contested for the post of president, by 40 votes to 7.
Sakshi Malik won a bronze medal for India in women’s wrestling 58 kg freestyle at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She is the first Indian woman to win a medal in Olympic wrestling and the fourth Indian woman to win an Olympic medal. Sakshi Malik was also an active presence at the forefront of the strike by wrestlers against the National Wrestling Federation.
