'Will continue to have such greed': Vinesh Phogat responds to Sakshi Malik's allegations

Sakshi claimed that Vinesh and Bajrang Punia's decision to accept exemption from Asian Games trials also maligned the protest's image.

However, dismissing such allegations, Vinesh said they fought for a good cause and added that if speaking up for athletes is "greed", then she will continue to have such "greed".

"No one gave me anything in writing, nor can I assume someone's intentions. The good thing is that we fought for a good cause. If playing in the Olympics and winning a medal for our country is greed, then yes, I will carry that 'greed' till my last breath. What exactly is greed? If, as an athlete, speaking up for fellow athletes and standing by my sisters is greed, then I consider it a good kind of greed. The desire to play for the country should always remain," Phogat told ANI.

Both Sakshi and Vinesh were among the prominent faces of the prolonged protest.

Sakshi made the comments against Vinesh in her recently-released book 'Witness'.

"The old way of thinking selfishly was taking over once again. The people close to Bajrang and Vinesh had started filling their minds with greed. Now they were talking about this exemption from trials for the Games," Sakshi wrote in the book that was co-authored with journalist Jonathan Selvaraj.

She, however, has refrained from revealing the names of those who influenced the Vinesh and Bajrang Punia.

"...Nothing good came of Bajrang and Vinesh's decision to take the exemption...their decision badly hurt the image of our protest. It put us in a situation where many supporters started to think that we were actually in the protest for selfish reasons," the 32-year-old said.