In wrestling, it's federation vs everyone else

On the surface, it’s a most unusual turn of events—the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) at war with both private organisations as well as the ministry of sport’s TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) programme even after two of its seven wrestlers at Tokyo 2020 came back with medals.

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Yet, the trouble has been some time in the making, erupting soon after the Games when WFI served showcause notices to star wrestler Vinesh Phogat, accusing her of refusing to stay and train with the Indian wrestling team in Tokyo and for not wearing the official Indian singlet during one of her bouts.

While Phogat has responded—saying that she did not stay with the wrestling team as a Covid-19 related precautionary measure and that the singlet was an unintentional oversight by her—the federation is not satisfied. She remains suspended by WFI.

In a series of interviews and public comments, WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh, has said he wants “to make an example out of Vinesh”, that private organizations like OGQ and JSW Sports, who sponsor and provide expertise to many of India’s Olympic hopefuls, have been “spoiling the athletes” and that in the future, any top athlete associated with a private body will be barred from competing.

“We are always being asked to clear some (personal) foreign coach or physio for wrestlers for tours. Who is then accountable for their training and performances? Why don't these organisations work at the grassroots instead of taking the top wrestlers?” Singh said.

Singh has also accused Phogat’s personal coach, Hungarian Woller Akos, of misusing government funds provided for the wrestler’s training.

Phogat is sponsored by OGQ, and her personal support staff, including Akos and physio Poornima R Ngomdir, is funded by OGQ.

Her proposals of exposure tours and trips were cleared by the Sports Authority of India under TOPS—these plans were shared over email with WFI before they were cleared by TOPS, though WFI claimed they did not receive these mails.

“The same foreign coach was most wonderful when Vinesh was winning everything,” said Manisha Malhotra, who is head of sports excellence and scouting at JSW Sports. “She won 16 bouts before she lost one at Tokyo and now the coach has gone from most wonderful to the worst?”

WFI made its move against the private bodies well ahead of the Olympics when a few months before Tokyo 2020, personal physios of multiple wrestlers provided by OGQ, including the physio for Ravi Dahiya, who went on to win a silver at the Games, were barred from the national camps.

At the heart of the problem is the feeling that several national sports federations have, that the private bodies “poach” their best talents from junior programmes and then enjoy the benefits of the athlete’s success.

“It’s very unfortunate what Brij Bhushan ji has been saying,” said Parth Jindal, founder, JSW Sports. “I meet him on a regular basis and last year we hosted the girls’ national wrestling championship at IIS (Inspire Institute of Sports in Bellary, Karnataka, the high performance centre run by JSW Sports). I don’t know where he is getting the feeling that we are only working with elite wrestlers and not working at grassroots levels. We are working at all levels.”

JSW Sports currently has 120 junior athletes on their roster across five disciplines.

OGQ too supports more than 100 junior athletes across various sports. Of the 32 wrestlers on their roster, 23 are juniors.

“OGQ has been supporting wrestlers Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Deepak Punia for the last 6 years since they were 17 and 16 years old respectively, well before they both came into limelight. We have been supporting PV Sindhu since she was 14 years old and Lakshya Sen since he was 10 years old,” the organisation said in a statement.

Coaches running academies at the grassroots said WFI’s statement that they will ban elite wrestlers who are sponsored by private bodies will have an impact at every level.

“Why will anyone come to support junior kids if they know that they will be taken off at the senior level?” said a coach who runs an academy in Delhi and did not wish to be identified. “Even among seniors, not everyone is Bajrang and Vinesh, there are hundreds who are looking for some kind of support, whatever comes their way. This kind of policy will completely kill wrestling. And everyone will be at the mercy of the federation. WFI should find a common ground with these organisations.”

Another Delhi coach, who has worked with some of India's top wrestlers, said nothing much has changed at the ground in terms of financial assistance for young wrestlers. He too asked not to be identified.

“A wrestler starts to get some help after he wins a medal at the national level or when he is picked in national camps. Before that nothing has changed, it is the families who bear the entire cost of their training, diet. If OGQ or JSW is coming to their help there is no harm. Any assistance coming their way in any form is a big step, be it government, WFI or private organisations. All of them are playing a part—but what is missing is coordination and a system in place.”

Another problem WFI has with private bodies is control of the athletes. Singh claimed that TOPS has been directly dealing with athletes instead of going through the federation.

“We cannot say no to a proposal if it comes straight from the government but what they need to understand is that a federation is better placed to give technical inputs about training, coaches, sparring partners etc,” said a top WFI official. “Some wrestlers miss national camps to train individually with their personal coaches and later request for an opportunity in selection trials before major tournaments.”

Yet, WFI’s national camps, usually held at SAI’s wrestling centres in Sonepat (for men) and Lucknow (for women) have often come in for criticism from wrestlers for poor infrastructure and quality of food.

“It’s not good that federations now want complete control over the athlete,” said Malhotra. “It’s one thing that your job is to develop and look after your sport, but what you want is dictatorial control. If an athlete has a better location, access to better facilities than what you have in the camp, then why are they forced to go to a camp?”

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