Commonwealth Games gold medalist wrestler Babita Phogat has joined the inspection committee set up to look into various allegations against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
A monitoring committee constituted by the Sports Ministry is probing allegations of sexual misconduct, harassment, intimidation, financial irregularities and administrative lapses by the WFI and its chief. The allegations were made by prominent wrestlers like Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Ravi Dahiya.
“Former wrestler Babita Phogat has been included in the panel of monitoring committee constituted by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to handle the day-to-day administration of the Wrestling Federation of India,” the ministry said in a statement.
wrestling sign @Babita Phogat At the annual day celebration of Shiksha Valley School, Dibrugarh, Assam
#CWG14 The gold medalist interacted with the little ones and also had a fun motivational session.#babitaphogat #dangalsisters #dangal #schoolevent #interaction #TeamIOS #TeamIOSports pic.twitter.com/ojNNYKJBmH– iOS Sports & Entertainment (@iosindiaoff) January 30, 2023
Babita is the sixth member of the inspection committee, which is headed by boxing legend MC Mary Kom, and includes former wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, former shuttler Trupti Murgunde, Radhika Sriman and Rajesh Rajagopalan, ex-CEO, Target Olympic Podium Scheme.
Sports Minister Anurag Thakur had earlier this month announced the formation of a committee to probe the allegations against the WFI chief and also manage the day-to-day affairs of the sports body.
The conflict between the agitating wrestlers and the WFI ended when the athletes called off their protest following assurances from the government.
However, Bajrang, Vinesh, Sarita Mor and Sakshi, who staged a sit-in at Jantar Mantar for three days demanding the sacking of the WFI president, also expressed disappointment that they were not consulted before the formation of the committee.