ERRING UNITS TO BE HAULED UP FOR OVERAGE WRESTLERS

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) plans to take strict action against state units whose players will be found overage during the three-day National Cadet Championship starting Tuesday at Pune.

Like all other National Sports Federations, the WFI too has been grappling with overage issues. To clean up the system, WFI suspended six age-fraud culprits from different states, including Chandigarh and Haryana, during the recently concluded junior Nationals at Jaipur.

According to WFI secretary Vinod Tomar, this time the state units will also be held responsible. At the Jaipur tournament, no action was taken against the erring state units whose players had manipulated age, but to continue with its policy to clean up the system, state units will be under scanner at the cadet nationals. “Last year we made it mandatory for all competitors to furnish Aadhaar cards... it has been productive,” said Tomar.

“In the past, medical tests during age-group competitions were either non-existent or an eyewash,” said a national-level player, adding that competitors facing bans is first of its kind.

Former WFI secretary-general Raj Singh said, the issue of overage has come down. “With more restriction, it will further come down. Even if some wrestlers manipulate the Aadhaar card, only 10 per cent might get away,” he said.

The federation also plans to check residential proofs along with the No Objection Certificate (NoC) of the competitors in case they have shifted to another state.

In the past, many grapplers from Haryana have represented states such as Puducherry and Tripura, while the secondstring wrestlers, mostly from Karnataka, go to states like Goa.

“Many non-active states field grapplers from other states which abound in talent. But ineligible competitors will not be allowed to compete in the national meet,” said the WFI official.