Barely 48 hours before they are supposed to be on a plane to Albania, 12 wrestlers, selected for the World Championships, are sitting outside the residence of Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, desperately seeking his intervention to resolve the issue following withdrawal of Indian teams from the prestigious tournament.
The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) was on Thursday forced to pull all three Indian teams out of the championships after wrestler Satyawart Kadian, husband of Sakshi Malik, approached the court against federation’s decision to conduct trials for the U23 and senior Worlds, saying the sports body was committing a contempt of court which had reinstated the mandate of IOA ad-hoc panel to manage the routine affairs.
The WFI remains suspended by the ministry and IOA has refused to re-introduce the ad-hoc panel, leaving the sport and the future of wrestlers in limbo.
“It takes 10-12 years to reach this stage where you get to qualify for the World Championships and now this opportunity is being snatched away from us. What is our fault?,” asked Mansha Bhanwala, who made the cut in the women’s 65kg category.
“These protesting wrestlers are done with their careers, why are they playing with ours? The junior wrestlers do not need their support. If we are not sent for the World Championships, we will begin a protest of our own,” she told PTI.
“We can’t let this chance slip. This is the time to manage weight and train and we are sitting here. I lost my father at a young age and my mother has sacrificed a lot to make a wrestler.
“This is unfair treatment. The Federation wants to help us that’s why they conducted trials also,” added Manisha, winner of two bronze medals at the Asian Championships.
Manisha was accompanied by fellow women wrestlers Mansi Ahlawat (59kg), who won a gold in Almaty and a bronze medal at the UWW Ranking Series event last year in Tunis last year, Kirti (55kg), and Bipasha (72kg).
Four men’s freestyle wrestlers Udit (61kg), Manish Goswami (70kg), Parvinder Singh (79kg), Sandeep Mann (92kg) and as many Greco-Roman exponents Sanjeev (55kg), Chetan (63kg), Ankit Gulia (72kg), and Rohit Dahiya (82kg) also sat on the pavement outside the minister’s resident after travelling all the way from Haryana .
“Everything is ready. Visas are there, tickets are there. We have a flight to catch on Sunday morning at 4am. It’s time to save energy, train and be prepared but we are sitting here on the road,” said Udit.
The wrestlers first moved the court but they were told that their petition can’t be heard today and they can get a hearing date.
They then moved to the Sports Minister’s residence but could not meet him.
“They are asking if we have an appointment. We have not been able to meet him yet,” said a wrestler.
The WFI had cited government “interference” in its autonomy while conveying to world governing body UWW that it was withdrawing its entries.
The senior World Championship in 12 non-Olympic categories is scheduled to be held in Tirana, Albania, from October 28.
The WFI had recently announced selection trials for the U23 and World Championships, which was challenged as contempt of court by the protesting wrestlers, including Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat , Sakshi Malik and her husband Satyawart, who had questioned the legality of the selection by the WFI.
