Georgian Wrestler Accuses Federation President of Violence
By Tea Mariamidze
Wednesday, January 23
Captain of Greco-Roman style wrestling team of Georgia and twice European champion Zurab Datunashvili accuses Gega Gegeshidze, the President of the Wrestling Federation, of violence and corruption.
Datunashvili demands Gegeshidze’s resignation and calls on his colleagues to openly talk about the problems in the Georgian Wrestling Federation.
The captain of the team released a statement about violence against him, saying Gegeshidze hit him with a blunt object in the head at the Sports Palace on January 11.
The wrestler says other athletes are not happy either with the federation president but they do not openly speak about it.
“The athletes may have fears that if they speak up they will have problems regarding their career,” said Datunashvili.
The investigation is ongoing under Article 126 of the Criminal Code of Georgia regarding the violence.
The Federation President rejects accusations against him and says he will cooperate with the investigation.
He says there really was a brawl in Sports Palace on December 11, after one of the tournaments, but excludes his participation in it.
“I do not know who hit whom or what injuries people received. I was not the part of that fight,” Gegeshidze said.
Mikheil Batiashvili, Minister of Education, Science, Sports and Culture of Georgia, says that a proper decision regarding the Federation President will be made after the investigation is over.
"Such facts are unacceptable. This destroys the reputation not only of this particular federation but Georgian sports in general. Last year we had very important success in wrestling, we are looking forward to more this year and such facts should not happen in general,” he commented.
Gegeshidze has been the President of the Federation since December 2017. Before that he used to be the head of the ex-Interior Minister Alexander Chikaidze’s security. Right now Chikaidze is the deputy of Gegeshidze.
