Elated at the Indian Olympic Association's (IOA) decision to take charge of all the activities of the Wrestling Federation of India, the protesting wrestlers on Sunday termed the development as the 'first step' in their fight against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the former WFI chief.

The country's premier wrestlers, including Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, and Vinesh Phogat, have been protesting at the Jantar Mantar for the last 22 days demanding the arrest of Brij Bhushan for alleged sexual harassment of women wrestlers. The IOA, through its letter on May 12, asked the secretary general of WFI to hand over the official documents including financial instruments to its ad-hoc panel, making it clear the outgoing office bearers shall have no role in the running of the federation.