Wrestlers' decision to return awards politically motivated, says Yogeshwar Dutt

Olympian Yogeshwar Dutt has termed the decision of star grapplers returning awards as politically motivated. He also leveled serious allegations against Congress saying the grand old party wants to pursue the issue with the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Rohtak (Haryana): Olympic bronze medalist and star grappler Yogeshwar Dutt has slammed wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, who have returned their awards, saying their decisions were "politically motivated".

Recently, wrestler Bajrang Punia returned his Padma Shri to protest the election of Sanjay Singh, a close aide of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is accused of sexually harassing women wrestlers. Wrestler Vinesh Phogat also returned Khel Ratna, country's highest sporting honour and Arjuna Award to the government to protest Sanjay Singh's election. Even wrestler Sakshi Malik announced her decision to quit wrestling.

Lashing out at the wrestlers, Yogeshwar Dutt said an award is not only an honor for the athlete but also for the entire country. "There is contribution of the player and his family for getting an award," he quipped.

Hitting out at the Congress, 41-year-old Gohana-born Yogeshwar Dutt said, "Congress is behind the wrestlers row. The script of this episode has already been prepared. These people want to pursue this issue till the (2024) Lok Sabha elections."

He charged former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Deepender Singh Hooda and senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi of being behind the entire controversy.

He said returning the awards can be a personal decision of the wrestlers, but this controversy is causing misery to wrestling as a sport. "Due to this year-long ongoing issue, the game of junior and sub-junior players has been badly affected. They are suffering losses every day. The situation has become such that those players cannot even speak, because there is no one to listen to them. It is very sad to see this era of wrestling," added Yogeshwar Dutt.

He requested the Centre and the Union Sports Ministry to resolve this matter as soon as possible and save the wrestling from being ruined.

"If these players wanted women officials in the (Wrestling) Federation (of India), then they should have given names of women for the post of Secretary and also for Junior Vice President, but the kind of controversy that has erupted, it has taken a completely political color," he concluded.