The Union Sports Ministry on Saturday suspended Vinod Tomar, assistant secretary of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), amid row over a series of allegations raised by country's top wrestlers against the federation and its president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The ministry has also cancelled the Open championship, which was to begin in Sharan's stronghold of Gonda in Uttar Pradesh.
The wrestlers, who sat on a dharna in Delhi and alleged that the federation chief sexually harassed women wrestlers and acts like a "dictator", had called off their protest on Friday night after the government announced that it will form an oversight committee to probe the charges. The government had also said the WFI chief would step aside till the investigation is over.
Meanwhile, Tomar denied any communication regarding his suspension, stating that he knew about it only through media.
"I did not know about this. I only learned through a call from ANI that I have been suspended. I did not get any prior information regarding this. I have not done anything wrong," Tomar told ANI.
He termed the charges against Sharan as 'baseless' and said the wrestlers have not produced any evidence to support their claims. "The allegations are baseless. It has been 3-4 days (since the wrestlers sat in protest) and they still haven't produced any evidence. I have been associated with them for the past 12 years and I never came across any such incident or allegation," he told the news agency.
The WFI, in its reply to the government on Saturday, rejected all allegations of the grapplers against Sharan and the federation, saying their protest was motivated by a "hidden agenda to dislodge the current management".
"The WFI is managed by an elected body as per its constitution, and therefore, there is no scope for arbitrariness and mismanagement in WFI by any one individually, including the president," the federation said in its response.
Wrestlers including Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Ravi Dahiya, started a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday and demanded the sacking of the WFI chief. They also demanded that the WFI be disbanded immediately and a new panel is formed.
