Women’s chief coach Jitender Yadav withdrawn from India team

Women’s wrestling team chief coach Jitender Yadav has been withdrawn from the Indian team for the Zagreb Open Ranking Series in Croatia from February 1.

It is learned that the Oversight Committee, headed by MC Mary Kom, removed him because of the allegations levelled against him by the protesting wrestlers. This is the first action against Yadav.

Double Olympic World Championships medallist Vinesh Phogat had alleged that Yadav is a close aide of WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and used to carry out his instructions in the national camp. The panel has replaced Yadav with women coach Madhuri.

The Indian team comprises of 12 women wrestlers, 13 freestyle and 11 Greco Roman wrestlers. It was also learned that six top wrestlers including Bajrang Punia, Ravi Dahiya, Vinesh Phogat, Anshu Malik, Deepak Punia — who were part of the protesting group– have withdrawn their names from the event.

While the team has been approved by the government, the visa formalities are still to be done with not much time in hand. The tournament will see participation from the world’s top nations and is the start of a new cycle leading to the world championships in August which will offer Paris Olympics quotas.