Following wrestler Sakshi Malik's claim that the protests aginst former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh was driven by "greed", her fellow sportsperson and Congress MLA Vinesh Phogat hit back at her, saying "if playing in the Olympics and winning a medal for our country is greed, then I will carry that 'greed' till my last breath".
Speaking to reporters, Phogat said, "No one gave me anything in writing, nor can I assume someone’s intentions. The good thing is that we fought for a good cause. If playing in the Olympics and winning a medal for our country is greed, then yes, I will carry that 'greed' till my last breath. What exactly is greed? If, as an athlete, speaking up for fellow athletes and standing by my sisters is greed, then I consider it a good kind of greed. The desire to play for the country should always remain".
In her recent book titled 'Witness', Sakshi Malik wrote that Phogat and Punia’s decision to accept exemptions from the trials hurt their protest’s integrity. She went on to claim that protest began to lose credibility when people close to Phogat and Punia allegedly filled their minds with 'greed'.
"The old way of thinking selfishly was taking over once again. The people close to Bajrang and Vinesh had started filling their minds with greed", she wrote in the book.
Besides Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik was one of the key faces during the wrestlers' protest. The protests, held in 2023, aimed at removing Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh from the post of WFI Chief over the allegations of sexual harassment.
The case is still being heard in a Delhi court. Meanwhile, the ad-hoc committee running WFI granted Phogat and Punia exemptions from the trials. However, Malik had turned down the favour and opted out of the games.
Moreover, in the book, Sakshi Malik also stressed that accepting the exemptions caused divisions within the movement.
"It put us in a situation where many supporters started to think that we were actually in the protest for selfish reasons," she wrote.
