WFI suspends 11 wrestlers for submitting fake birth certificates after MCD enquiry

New Delhi: The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has suspended 11 grapplers for submitting fake birth certificates after the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) verified 110 such documents and maintained that there was no lapse on its part as 95 delayed registrations were done only on the orders of the SDM.

The sport of wrestling has been grappling with two major issues: Overage wrestlers competing in lower age-group competitions and many trying to represent a state different from their domicile after procuring fake birth certificates.

In some cases, the certificates have been issued as late as 12-15 years after the birth of the child. Suspecting foul play, WFI provided the MCD with a list of certificates for verification.

The MCD upon verification replied to WFI that it indeed issued birth certificates but maintained that the delayed registration (registration after one year of birth) is not done directly by it but under the orders of the SDM.

In several competitions, especially at the trials to pick the national junior teams, it is apparent that many wresters have entered lower age groups and hold an advantage over their genuine rivals.

Since Haryana is the hotbed of wrestling, the competition is very stiff and making the state team has become tougher by the day.

Keen to make a career in wrestling, many athletes try to come through neighbouring state Delhi by procuring fake certificates.

The WFI noticed that though many wrestlers were originally from Haryana, they somehow managed to get birth certificates issued by the MCD, so that they could enter the competitions through Delhi.

Providing the status of certificates, a copy of which is with the PTI, the MCD replied that, "95 birth certificates have been issued by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi only after getting orders from the Sub-Divisional Magistrate and there is no lapse on the part of the MCD." The MCD in its reply also mentioned that 11 certificates are fake/photoshopped/edited and are not issued by it. The certificates belonged to Saksham, Manuj, Kavita, Anshu, Arush Rana, Shubham, Gautam, Jagrup Dhankar, Nakul, Dushyant, and Siddharth Baliyan.

Six of the 11 certificates are from Narela zone, two from Najafgarh, and one each from Rohini, Civil Line and City zone.

"We have sent a suspension notice to six of these wrestlers today (August 7). We had already suspended five others for submitting fake certificates. The WFI is keen to clean up the system," a WFI official told PTI.

"We have already taken some steps and continue to do the needful. The WFI wants a clean system where no genuine wrestler is wronged. No one should get any unfair advantage." The MCD also mentioned that two wrestlers manipulated the date of registration, which is not matching with the MCD records.

Complaint to Sports Ministry

Meanwhile, Delhi wrestler Ritika's father has approached to the sports ministry, complaining that during a recent state-level meet, Haryana wrestler Ishika was allowed to compete for Delhi.

"Recently in a Delhi state-level competition, Ishika was allowed to compete in the 53kg weight category. This is in violation of the domicile rule made by the WFI. If that policy has to be followed then Ishika should not be allowed to compete from Delhi," wrote Neeraj Kumar.

"I have enclosed documents that clearly show that Ritika is a resident of Haryana. I request you to order an inquiry into the issue so that transparency prevails," he added.