Sakshi Malik, the best wrestler in India, has resigned from the sport in opposition to the new president of her federation.
With a resounding win on Thursday, Sanjay Singh was chosen as the new head of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).
According to reports, Mr. Singh is close to Brij Bhushan Singh, the former head of WFI, who has been charged with harassing female wrestlers sexually. Mr. Singh disputes the claims.
Massive protests against his supposed misbehavior had been organized by wrestlers.
Wrestlers stopped protesting in January when Brij Bhushan Singh was stripped of his administrative authority while a government probe was ongoing. They started protesting again in April because the government had withheld the panel’s conclusions regarding Mr. Singh, a six-term member of Parliament from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The protest gained international attention, particularly after the wrestlers were arrested by the police while attempting to march to the new parliament building in India.
The wrestlers’ treatment was denounced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which also demanded an unbiased investigation into their grievances.
A judge granted Mr. Singh bail despite the police charging him in June with stalking, harassment, intimidation, and making “sexually colored remarks.”
The wrestlers had also requested that the minister of sports in India forbid anyone connected to Mr. Singh from taking part in the WFI’s postponed presidential election for several months.
Ms. Malik, the 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist in the 58kg freestyle, expressed her dissatisfaction in a press conference on Thursday following the results’ announcement.
She sobbed as she addressed the media, saying, “We slept for 40 days on the road. If Brij Bhushan Singh’s business partner and close aide is elected as the president of WFI, I quit wrestling.”
Additionally, she stated that the wrestlers had insisted on a female president to shield them from harassment.
“But there was no participation of women [in the elections],” she stated. “Not a single woman was given a position.”
Pro wrestler Vinesh Phogat expressed his disapproval of the election results and declared that the “future of wrestling is dark” while taking part in the demonstrations.
“To whom shall we convey our grief… we are still fighting while training,” she said.
Regarding Ms. Malik’s choice, Sanjay Singh has remained silent.