NEW DELHI: Olympic medallist
Bajrang Punia
emphasized on Saturday the need for the Sports Ministry to resume wrestling activities in the country, especially with only seven months remaining for the upcoming Paris Games. He expressed concern that the preparations for the quadrennial event seemed to lack seriousness.
Wrestling has faced a prolonged hiatus in recent months due to internal turmoil within the fraternity, stemming from protests by grapplers against former president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Despite the election of a new
Wrestling Federation of India
(
WFI
) committee, normalcy has yet to be restored. The Sports Ministry suspended the Sanjay Singh-led panel, citing violations of its own constitution in announcing the national U-15 and U-20 Championships.
"Wrestling activities have come to a standstill for the last several months. Neither has any nationals been held nor have any camps been organised to prepare the players (for
Paris Olympics
)," Punia wrote on his 'X' account.
Punia, who had decided to return his Padma Shri in protest over the election of
Sanjay Singh
, a Brij Bhushan loyalist, further said the preparation for the Olympics needed urgent attention.
"There is an Olympic Games after seven months but no one seems serious about it. Wrestling has given four consecutive medals in the last four Olympics," he said.
Rahul Gandhi interacts with wrestler Bajrang Punia at Virender Arya Akhara in Jhajjar
Punia, a 65kg freestyle bronze winner in Tokyo Olympics, said the officials should keep in mind the players' future.
"So, I request the Sports Ministry to start all wrestling activities as soon as possible so that the future of the players can be saved," he added.
In the recent days, a slew of protest measures from the grapplers took the centre stage as Sakshi Malik decided to retire from wrestling while Vinesh Phogat decided to return her Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award in a letter addressed to PM
Narendra Modi
.
(With PTI Inputs)
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