Yogeshwar Dutt on Sakshi Malik's retirement from wrestling: 'Saddest part of their career'

Referring to Sakshi Malik's retirement from wrestling, Yogeshwar Dutt said it was a personal decision, but admitted it was the saddest part of an athlete's career.

The ongoing week has been a tumultuous one for Indian wrestling, following the appointment of Sanjay Singh as the head of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Thursday.

The decision led to strong reactions from Indian wrestlers and arguably the most impactful consequence was Sakshi Malik announcing her retirement in an emotional press conference in Delhi.

Reacting to the decision, 2012 London Olympics bronze medalist Yogeshwar Dutt said retiring from sport was the saddest part of any athlete's career, but the decision to move on was a personal call.

"Taking retirement is a personal call of an athlete, but I will say that it is very sad for a player to leave their game in any situation or condition. Taking retirement is the saddest part of their career because they give their life to the game and earn recognition as well as respect because of it. It is their decision as well as it depends on time," Dutt told ANI.

During the press conference on Thursday, Malik had spoken about protesting for 40 days and gathering support from others and concluded by saying that she was quitting the sport, following Singh's appointment.

"We slept for 40 days on the roads and a lot of people from several parts of the country came to support us. If Brij Bhushan Singh's business partner and a close aide is elected as the president of WFI, I quit wrestling," she said.

A day after Malik announced her retirement, Bajrang Punia decided to return his Padma Shri, that was awarded to him in 2019.