Vinesh Phogat to Return Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award

Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister of that nation that she was returning her national awards following the election of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh-loyalist Sanjay Singh as the president of the WFI.

The 29-year-old wrestler from Haryana said that she will return her Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna and Arjun Award in the aftermath of Sanjay Singh’s victory in the recently concluded WFI polls.

Phogat shared a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that read, “I am returning my Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna and Arjun Award. Many thanks to the Almighty for bringing us to this condition.”

The decision comes just days after fellow wrestler and Olympic bronze medallist Bajrang Punia returned his Padma Shri award citing the same reason.

Fellow Olympic and Commonwealth medallist Sakshi Malik shocked the nation as she declared that she quit the sport with a powerful gesture at a presser after the Brij Bhushan loyalist got the better of former wrestler Anita Sheoranin the elections which were held on the 21st of December.

Punia, Phogat and Malik were at the forefront of the protests held by some of the nation’s top grapplers, since January of 2023, against former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Singh, who was accused of sexual harassment of women wrestlers.

The Sports Ministry, however, suspended the newly elected WFI body, headed by Sanjay Singh, following an announcement to hold the U15 and U20 nationals in Gonda, a Brij Bhushan Singh stronghold.

The ministry cited a lack of transparency and not following the protocols to assign venues for the event as the reason for the suspension.