Dark clouds continue to hover over the future of Indian wrestlers.
Indian wrestlers are set to miss the Zagreb Open and Muhamet Malo — two Ranking Series — due to a delay in clearance from the Sports Ministry.
The World Wrestling Federation (WFI) is unlikely to field a team in the Continental Championships after being served a total bill of INR 45 lakh by the organizers.
“We are waiting to see what the Sports Ministry decides this time. We have already been billed Rs 45 lakh for the two Ranking series where we could not field the teams despite sending the team entries,” WFI president Sanjay Singh told The Tribune on Wednesday.
“We may choose not to send the entries this time for the Asian Championships at all. We send entries but the team cannot travel and we end up paying money. Not sending teams to championships has hurt both India and Wrestling Federation of India’s image abroad,” he added.
It is likely the same issue will continue ahead of the Asian Championships scheduled to run from March 25 to 30 in Amman, Jordan with the World Championships in Zagreb, Serbia set to take place in September to undergo the same fate.
“Our morale is down. There is no clarity on whether we will participate or not because of a court order. We are losing crucial exposure. I do not know how much of this we can take,” a wrestler said on anonymity.
WFI had withdrawn the team from World Championships, last year.
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