
CHENNAI: Standoff between the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) continues to haunt wrestlers even as they prepare to compete at the National Games.
Only a few Railway wrestlers made it to their respective state teams for the Uttarakhand Games as the RSPB did not allow its grapplers to compete at the Bengaluru national championships organised by the WFI in December last year. Apparently, the states picked up their respective squads for the National Games based on their performances at Bengaluru nationals.
Those who won medals at the nationals were included in the squads for the Games. A few among them claimed that they have been rendered without pay since their participation in the WFI tournament. "We had to leave the ongoing Railway camp to compete in the Bengaluru event. Once we returned, we were punished on disciplinarian ground for leaving the camp. I have been without pay since then and it will continue till March," lamented a wrestler on condition of anonymity.
Forced to fend for himself, the wrestler said a medal in the National Games is a dream for him and he will compete no matter if he is paid or not by his employer, in this case its Indian Railways.
While the wrestlers are suffering due to the infight between the RSPB and WFI, technical officials for wrestling competition in Uttarakhand from Railways will be treated differently. They do have to avail paid leave to be a part of the Games but at the same time they will receive travel allowance and daily allowance from the local organising committee and Games Technical Conduct Committee (GTCC).
Sources said that for the 2025 National Games, an international referee is eligible for to and fro airfare while a national referee is eligible for second AC travel. Besides, the former will be paid `3000 per day as a DA while the latter will receive `2500 as a DA. This will be additional to their salaries which they receive from the Indian Railways. The wrestling competition is scheduled from February 8 to 13 in Haridwar.
"How can they make wrestlers suffer for no fault of theirs?" a WFI official told this daily.
Meanwhile, the RSPB secretary, Prem Chand Lochab, did not reply to a query in this regard.
It should be noted that a Greco-Roman wrestler was asked to withdraw from the Bengaluru nationals after winning his first bout. Ahead of the nationals, Lochab had told this daily that the WFI has been suspended by the sports ministry and the Delhi High Court too has held that an ad-hoc committee should be formed by the Indian Olympic Association to manage the day-to-day affairs of the federation.
"In such a situation, it would not be in fittest of things to send Railways team officially in an unrecognised event,” Lochab had replied to a text message from this daily.
The ongoing tussle had forced several wrestlers including the Paris Olympics bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat, who is employed by the Railways, to miss the nationals and subsequently the National Games.