I never told him to lose any match: Yogeshwar Dutt on Bajrang Punia's claims

The mudslinging match between the countryrsquos top wrestlers continued as former wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt termed Bajrang Punias claim of lsquohim asking Bajrang to concede wrestling bouts on purposersquo as a lsquoblatant liersquoBajrang in a live social media address had claimed on Saturday that Yogeshwar several times asked him to lose matches on purpose in the pastI never told him to lose any match Its a blatant lie Yogeshwar told PTI when asked about Bajrangs claimDuring the 2016 Olympic qualification he was part of the 65kg trials but we were not pitted against each other Amit Dhankar had defeated him In the final bout I fought against Amit he clarifiedIn the Pro Wrestling League we fought against each other There I won 30 If I wanted I could have scored more and everybody knows that it was a show fight he addedYogeshwar who is now a BJP leader said he always took Bajrang on foreign training trips as his sparring partnerBefore 2016 Olympics whenever I went abroad I took Bajrang along with me Despite all this he has betrayed me I dont know why is he accusing me and tarnishing my imageYogeshwar feels that Bajrang is just trying to settle scores against him by levelling such false allegations after they decided to split in 2018In 2018 Bajrang told me that let me go to Commonwealth Games and you go to Asian Games but I told him I will go through the trials After that he got angry with me and we stopped talking to each other he claimedAfter 2016 Rio Olympics I never participated in any tournament I never attended any camp In camps there are many wrestlers in one weight category Anybody can beat anyoneBut I was never in the reckoning I left wrestling anyone could have beaten me easily I left competitive wrestling in 2018 I am now a former wrestlerBajrang had claimed that in a final match in Italy Yogeshwar told him to concede the finalYou told me that I am first and you are second You did not think of your junior player that if he wins it will benefit him Bajrang saidHowever the former wrestler did not accept that he did something like thatIn our religion gau mata mother cow is considered holy and I can swear on gau mata that I never asked Bajrang to concede a match said YogeshwarBajrangs accusations came after Yogeshwar questioned the exemption from Asian Games and World Championship trials that was handed to six protesting wrestlers by the IOA adhoc panelBajrang Vinesh Phogat Sakshi Malik Sangeeta Phogat Satyawart Kadian and Jitender Kinha received the exemption from the IOA panelYogeshwar had questioned the logic behind the move and had urged the junior and other wrestlers to raise their voice against the decisionAlso Read Bias is not good Coaches parents express displeasure over exemption given to six wrestlersInfuriated by Yogeshwars opposition Bajrang alleged that the former wrestler himself had received several favours from the WFI including exemptions from selection trials for internationals tournamentsWhy is he blaming me that I was selected without trials for a tournament in 2014 The federation had such guidelines then Sometimes they go by your achievements and seeding and exempt you from trails Every federation has different rules which you have to obeyYogeshwar also quoted a picture on twitter posted by Bajrang in August 2019 when the latter called him his GuruHow low will you stoop If you had stopped talking in 2018 then why are you thanking God for a Guru Dutt in 2019 Yogeshwar tweeted this morningVinesh Phogat had also reacted to Yogeshwarrsquos opposition to the exemption by calling him lsquoBrij Bhushan Sharan Singhrsquos lackeyrsquoAlso Read Vinesh Phogat slams Yogeshwar Dutt calls him Brij Bhushan Sharan Singhs lackeyThis is not the first time wrestlers are locked in a war of words Earlier this month Vinesh Phogat and Babita Phogat who is also associated with BJP had attacked each other on social mediaWith PTI inputs