SAI clears 30 wrestlers for U23 Wrestling World Championships, proposes changes in team selection

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) finally cleared the entire 45-member squad for the U23 Wrestling World Championships on Tuesday. It has, however, proposed targeting specific weight groups, especially for juniors, when funding foreign exposure for wrestlers.

The government has also cleared its stance on its decision to previously clear just 24 wrestlers on the "Cost to Government". SAI said in its statement:

“The decision to clear 24 wrestlers on Cost to Government was based on an assessment of their performance in the domestic and international events in the last three years.”

SAI has now cleared the entire 45 members, including 30 wrestlers, 9 coaches, three physiotherapists and three referees for the Wrestling World Championships in Belgrade.

The government has indicated that it would bear the cost for 36 members, including 24 wrestlers, six coaches, three physiotherapists and three referees. SAI has also cleared 12 other members, including six wrestlers, on No Cost to Government basis.

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and SAI had been locked in a tussle due to a bizarre decision by the latter. SAI had previously cleared just 24 wrestlers and three coaches for the Wrestling World Championships. It had picked seven and asked WFI to nominate the other 17 wrestlers to get the benefit.

However, the national federation felt SAI was trying to intervene in its functioning. WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh wrote to the government, informing that "either they clear the entire squad or no one will participate".

Sportskeeda has learnt that the six wrestlers who were to miss out on the benefit plan will take legal action against SAI. A WFI source told Sportskeeda:

“The wrestlers had planned to take legal action against SAI. They questioned on what basis were they being left out from the benefits.”

SAI proposes change in selection process for wrestling

The WFI had picked the U23 national gold medallists as their official entry for the wrestling world championships.

However, SAI is not convinced by the selection and has suggested WFI for sharper scrutiny before making a team. It also proposed that the Wrestling Federation of India include coaches from the academies, producing a larger number of members for the contingent.

SAI also noted that for the team of 30 wrestlers proposed for the World U23 event, they had mostly trained in their own academies or akharas since there has been no long-term training plan either in national camps or in dedicated academies. This meant that they were unable to train together or under the guidance of national coaches.

Hence, suggestions to include regular coaches from the academies producing large numbers of international athletes is in line with international best practice in cases where camps aren't held round the year.