Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh: Sanjay Singh is not my relative, I do not have anything to do with wrestling

Former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Sunday slammed the Sports Ministry’s decision to suspend the Sanjay Singh-led federation just three days after elections.

Singh defeated the panel led by former wrestler Anita Sheoran 40 votes to 7 to be elected as the new president of the WFI on Thursday, 21 December. The verdict however, was met with massive outrage from some of the country’s top wrestlers given Singh’s proximity to BJP MP Brij Bhushan, who was forced to step down from the role over charges of sexual harassment.

Explained: Why Sports Ministry suspended newly-elected WFI

Brij Bhushan was barred from contesting the WFI polls, as were members of his family, due to the serious allegations which ultimately led to the Delhi police filing a chargesheet against him following intense protests in New Delhi earlier this year. And on Sunday, following the Anurag Thakur-led Sports Ministry’s decision to suspend the federation, Brij Bhushan reiterated the fact that Singh isn’t a relative of his and that he would have little say in the running of the sport in India.

“WFI elections were held on SC directions. Further, Sanjay Singh is not my relative. To resume the sports activities and not waste a year of young wrestlers, it was decided to conduct the games in Nandini Nagar.

“Now, I do not have anything to do with wrestling and have to look into the Lok Sabha polls that are approaching. Whatever decision has to be taken will be taken by the new federation,” Brij Bhushan said after the WFI was suspended until further notice.

VIDEO | “WFI elections were held on SC directions. Further, Sanjay Singh is not my relative. To resume the sports activities and not waste a year of young wrestlers, it was decided to conduct the games in Nandini Nagar. Now, I do not have anything to do with wrestling and have to… pic.twitter.com/8bf9xC0Lnk

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 24, 2023

Brij Bhushan was at the heart of the Singh-led panel’s celebrations, which took place at his residence on Thursday after the poll results were announced.

Singh’s appointment as the country’s new wrestling chief was widely condemned by the wrestling community, who viewed the result as the Brij Bhushan-led camp’s return to power after being dissolved at the height of the wrestlers’ protests, which raged on from April to June.

Ace wrestler Sakshi Malik, who won bronze in the 2016 Rio Olympics and had won gold in last year’s Commonwealth Games, announced her retirement from the sport in protest. Fellow wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, who along with Malik were the faces of the protest, said that the “future of wrestling was in the dark”, with Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Punia also returning his Padma Shri Award.