Olympic Champion Risako Kawai Comes Out In Support Of Protesting Indian Wrestlers

Amid the ongoing wrestlers protest under the leadership of top Indian athletes Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, and Vinesh Phogat against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, three-time world champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Risako Kawai has come in support of the protesting wrestlers.

Kawai retweeted a video of the wrestlers’ protest on her Twitter handle and said, “I hope it will be an environment where Indian athletes can practice with peace of mind.” Risako Kawai is one of the big names in the world wrestling fraternity and is also the first high-profile internationsl name to come in support of the wrestlers protest that is going on for more than a month.

The committee was headed by India’s legendary boxer MC Mary Kom and it consisted of five other members. The committee had to submit the report of the investigation by the end of one month which was later extended to two weeks. Babita Phogat was added as the sixth member.

With more than three months spent and no report being given by the committee, the wrestlers decided to resume their protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and had also filed a written complaint against him in the Connaught Place police station, New Delhi. An FIR was filed for the same on the order of the Supreme Court of India. However, the protest is still going on and the matter has now become a national issue which has attracted a lot of eyeballs and attention from different political parties.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on the direction of the Sports Ministry of India had also formed an ad-hoc committee to look into the matter of the WFI. The ad-hoc committee was also responsible to form a committee to hold the elections of the federation in 45 days. The IOA has also debarred all the outgoing officials of WFI from undertaking any administrative role in the federation.