Wrestling Federation of India Suspends Vinesh Phogat
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) temporarily suspended star wrestler Vinesh Phogat for indiscipline during her Tokyo Olympics campaign.
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) temporarily suspended Vinesh Phogat on 10th August after her return from the Tokyo Olympics. The WFI cited indiscipline from Vinesh at the Olympic Games.It has been reported that Vinesh has been given time till 16th August to reply to the notice that mentioned indiscipline on three counts. If the response is not satisfactory, the WFI is considering a long ban. WFI sources have explained the reason for her suspension. Let me tell you about it. Vinesh had travelled to Tokyo from Hungary where she had trained with her coach Woller Akos. She then refused to stay in the same room with other Indian female wrestlers. Vinesh argued that she might contract coronavirus since these wrestlers travelled to Tokyo from India. She wanted a separate room on a different floor and tried to impose her seniority. The second charge is that Vinesh did not even train with the other Indian team members. A source said, Vinesh told India’s chief women’s coach, Kuldeep Malik, that she is going to train with her personal coach Woller Akos and not with him while they were in Tokyo. One day, coincidentally, Vinesh’ training and the other Indian women wrestlers’ training was scheduled at the same time. She got her schedule changed. She was behaving as if she was not from India.
The third charge on Vinesh is that she did not wear the singlet which had been sponsored by a company called Shiv Naresh. The company sponsored all the clothes used by the athletes in the Olympics. Instead of the Shiv Naresh singlet, Vinesh chose to wear the singlet of her personal sponsor, Nike, during her bouts. A WFI source said, "This is gross indiscipline. She has been suspended temporarily and barred from all wrestling activities. She can't compete in any national or other domestic events until she files a reply and WFI takes a final decision. WFI was pulled up by IOA (India Olympic Association) as to why they can't control their athletes. IOA is issuing a notice to WFI in this regard.” Meanwhile, the WFI also issued notice to young 19 year old wrestler, Sonam Malik for misconduct. The WFI source said, “The federation got all the visa work for Japan done and asked Sonam to collect her passport from the WFI office. One person from WFI went to the office on a Sunday and stayed there the whole day, expecting Sonam or someone from her family to come and collect the passport. But no one came. She instead sent a SAI official to collect the passport. These kids think that they are going to the Olympics so they’ve become some kind of stars and the federation or SAI people are their servants. It is the wrestler’s responsibility and this kind of attitude won’t be accepted,”
Sonam’s father, Rajender Malik in her daughter’s defence said, “We couldn’t go to collect the passport to Delhi as Haryana was under strict lockdown. Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji had said this in a video interaction before the Olympics that any athlete who is facing any kind of trouble should contact the Sports Authority of India. I had the contact number of one official so I contacted the official and asked for his help. Thankfully, he got the passport collected from the WFI office and Sonam received it at the airport on the day of her departure.
