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Six wrestlers, three coaches can go at ‘no cost to govt’
NEW DELHI: The Sports Authority of India (SAI) hasn’t taken kindly to the wrestling federation’s (WFI) “blackmail” tactics. WFI had said that if the entire contingent for the World U23 Championships wasn’t cleared by SAI, the nation would go unrepresented at the global sporting meet scheduled in Belgrade between November 1 and 7. The sports ministry has also reacted strongly to WFI’s intimidating tactics.
For now, SAI has cleared the entire squad of 45 members, including 30 wrestlers, nine coaches, three physiotherapist and three referees for the World U23 but has indicated that it would bear the cost of 36 members, including 24 wrestlers, six coaches, three physiotherapists and three referees. It meant the trip of six wrestlers and three coaches will not be funded by SAI and they will travel on ‘no cost to government’ basis with their participation arranged by the WFI.
This could lead to a flashpoint between the SAI and the federation, but the former is in no mood to back down after agreeing to WFI’s original demand to a reasonable extent. In clearing the proposal, the SAI has called for a “sharper scrutiny process” for junior wrestlers while funding their foreign exposure trips for international meets.
According to sources, SAI evaluated the performance of all 30 junior wrestlers nominated by the federation for the World U23. “SAI, after carefully analysing their sporting achievements over the years, realised that six of them have dismal national and international records to show in the last three years, with none training under the national set-up and with designated coaches. The in-house research on these six showed that they can’t even reach the quarterfinals at the Worlds, leave alone winning a medal. So, we cleared the names of 24 wrestlers at government’s cost. These are those who can at least reach the quarters and then take it further from there. In fact, to jog the memory of the wrestling federation, only two grapplers had returned with silver (Ravinder and Pooja Gehlot) from the previous edition of the Worlds (in Budapest in November 2019),” a source informed.
“Among the coaches, out of the nine recommended, only two coaches have regularly trained these 30 wrestlers named as part of the contingent. The other seven have not trained any of the wrestlers on a regular basis. They have trained them at their respective academies and akhadas. Still, the SAI has sanctioned the trip of six coaches (two each in men’s and women’s freestyle and two in greco-roman). It’s suggested that the WFI include coaches from the academies producing larger number of members of the contingent,” the source added.
The ministry has asked WFI to prepare a well-planned Annual Training and Competition Calendar (ACTC) with emphasis on holding regular national camps with full attendance under the designated national coaches. “The federation must ensure that the wrestlers compulsorily report to the camp to train under the national coaches,’ another source said.
WFI has been left with limited options. The federation has planned to fly out the first batch this Friday, having already deposited the boarding and lodging fees for the entire contingent – including 12 members at no cost to government – in the United World Wrestling’s (UWW) coffers.
NEW DELHI: The Sports Authority of India (SAI) hasn’t taken kindly to the wrestling federation’s (WFI) “blackmail” tactics. WFI had said that if the entire contingent for the World U23 Championships wasn’t cleared by SAI, the nation would go unrepresented at the global sporting meet scheduled in Belgrade between November 1 and 7. The sports ministry has also reacted strongly to WFI’s intimidating tactics.
For now, SAI has cleared the entire squad of 45 members, including 30 wrestlers, nine coaches, three physiotherapist and three referees for the World U23 but has indicated that it would bear the cost of 36 members, including 24 wrestlers, six coaches, three physiotherapists and three referees. It meant the trip of six wrestlers and three coaches will not be funded by SAI and they will travel on ‘no cost to government’ basis with their participation arranged by the WFI.
This could lead to a flashpoint between the SAI and the federation, but the former is in no mood to back down after agreeing to WFI’s original demand to a reasonable extent. In clearing the proposal, the SAI has called for a “sharper scrutiny process” for junior wrestlers while funding their foreign exposure trips for international meets.
According to sources, SAI evaluated the performance of all 30 junior wrestlers nominated by the federation for the World U23. “SAI, after carefully analysing their sporting achievements over the years, realised that six of them have dismal national and international records to show in the last three years, with none training under the national set-up and with designated coaches. The in-house research on these six showed that they can’t even reach the quarterfinals at the Worlds, leave alone winning a medal. So, we cleared the names of 24 wrestlers at government’s cost. These are those who can at least reach the quarters and then take it further from there. In fact, to jog the memory of the wrestling federation, only two grapplers had returned with silver (Ravinder and Pooja Gehlot) from the previous edition of the Worlds (in Budapest in November 2019),” a source informed.
“Among the coaches, out of the nine recommended, only two coaches have regularly trained these 30 wrestlers named as part of the contingent. The other seven have not trained any of the wrestlers on a regular basis. They have trained them at their respective academies and akhadas. Still, the SAI has sanctioned the trip of six coaches (two each in men’s and women’s freestyle and two in greco-roman). It’s suggested that the WFI include coaches from the academies producing larger number of members of the contingent,” the source added.
The ministry has asked WFI to prepare a well-planned Annual Training and Competition Calendar (ACTC) with emphasis on holding regular national camps with full attendance under the designated national coaches. “The federation must ensure that the wrestlers compulsorily report to the camp to train under the national coaches,’ another source said.
WFI has been left with limited options. The federation has planned to fly out the first batch this Friday, having already deposited the boarding and lodging fees for the entire contingent – including 12 members at no cost to government – in the United World Wrestling’s (UWW) coffers.
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