WFI Keeps Jaipur Nationals Medallists Out Of World Championship Trials: Report

The drama surrounding Indian wrestling refuses to die down. Even as the Sanjay Singh-led Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) still awaits recognition from the sports ministry, the national body has reportedly disallowed medallists from this year's National Championship in Jaipur – an event supported by the government – from competing in their selection trials for October’s World Championship. (More Sports News)

On the other hand, the grapplers who bagged medals at the WFI-hosted Nationals in Pune, a competition not backed by the government, have been permitted to participate in the trials, according to an Indian Express report.

The World Championship will be conducted in Tirana, Albania, from October 28 to 31 in non-Olympic weight categories. But a tug-of-war between the powers-that-be has trapped the country’s elite wrestlers in the middle.

“For no fault of theirs, the wrestlers have been made to pay a price. The two National Championships were held because of a peculiar situation the sport found itself in. After all these months, to take action against one set of wrestlers is unfortunate,” the report quoted a coach as saying.

The Jaipur Nationals were held in February by the Railway Sports Promotion Board and had the backing of the government. As the suspended WFI conducted the event in Pune around the same time, the sports ministry had said it would not recognise the event.

The report adds that in a circular dated September 24, the WFI – chaired by Sanjay Singh, a loyalist of ousted president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh – described the eligibility criteria for the wrestlers to take part in the selection trials, which will be held on the outskirts of Delhi on October 7.

'All medal winners of the 2023 Senior National Wrestling Championship held at Pune’, gold and silver medallists of the 2024 Senior Federation Cup, second-placed wrestlers from the U-23 selection trials to be held on October 6, and all wrestlers selected for the 2024 Asian Championship and Asian Olympic Qualifying tournament would be eligible for the World Championship trials.’

The report further states that national coaches believe the WFI’s move will lead to several top-flight wrestlers missing out on the trials.

The central government has not yet formally recognised the Sanjay Singh-led committee that is running WFI. After the Brij Bhushan loyalist won the election, the government quashed the results considering Sanjay’s allegiance to Brij Bhushan.

Post that, the Indian Olympic Association framed an ad-hoc panel to govern wrestling. The two nationals were an consequence of this decision.

Most top-class wrestlers, who needed the Sports Authority of India’s funding for their Paris Olympics preparation as well as certificates for government jobs, competed in the Jaipur National Championship. In addition to them, scores of wrestlers from Services, Railways and states like Haryana, Kerala, Punjab participated in the competition.

But factionalism at the state level meant some grapplers from these states also took part in the WFI-conducted Nationals.