AMN / NEW DELHI
The wrestlers who have been protesting at Jantar Mantar against alleged misbehavior of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief today received support from many prominent sportspersons of the country.
Cricket legend Kapil Dev sharing photo of protesting wrestles in social media with caption ” Will they get Justice “
Neeraj Chopra, who won the gold medal in javelin in the last Olympics, said that it hurt him to see India’s athletes having to demand justice by hitting the streets and urged authorities to deal with the issue in an “impartial and transparent” manner.
Another Olympic medallist, Abhinav Bindra, said that the athletes’ concerns should be “heard and addressed fairly and independently”, while tennis star Sania Mirza said it was “time to now stand with them in this difficult time”.
Today , #IStandWithMyChampions began trending on Twitter as people used it to show support for the protesting athletes.
Boxing world champion Nikhat Zareen joined the trend and said that she hoped justice would be served at the earliest, while Bollywood actress Swara Bhasker tweeted that it was “shameful” that athletes were protesting on the streets while a “BJP MP is being consistently shielded by the government”.
Wrestlers’ Protest: Delhi police to register case against wrestling chief
In January, Vinesh Phogat, one of India’s most decorated women wrestlers, alleged that at least 10 woman wrestlers had told her that they were sexually exploited by Mr Singh. She and other protesters also said that some coaches had misbehaved with athletes and criticised the WFI’s functioning. At the time, the WFI had denied all the allegations made by the wrestlers, including that of sexual misconduct.
The committee submitted its report in April but its findings haven’t been made public yet.
The IOA has also set up a panel to oversee the daily functioning of the WFI and hold elections to its executive committee.
