CHENNAI: An international camp held for women wrestlers at the Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS) last month and Haryana Dangal organised by the charitable trust on February 19 and 20 have come under the scanner due to participation of athletes serving provisional suspensions for dope violations.
The camp was organised at the IIS, Vijayanagar, Karnataka close on the heels of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the United World Wrestling (UWW) and IIS during the 2024 Paris Olympics last year. "This strategic partnership is designed to foster collaboration and enhance the development of wrestling in India by establishing a framework for mutually beneficial programs, projects, and activities," said an UWW statement soon after the signing of the MoU.
Incidentally, an exposure trip to Italy was also planned for a few men and women wrestlers by the IIS after the completion of the camp. One of the selected wrestlers for the trip too was provisionally suspended by the World Anti Doping Agency (for SARMS) after prohibited substances were found in his sample taken during an international tournament in July 2023.
The trip, however, is unlikely to go ahead with chances of selection trials for the Asian Championships next month. Besides, the Italy Federation has enquired its Indian counterpart (Wrestling Federation of India) about the trip and the latter has clarified that it is not part of the plan and the list contains a provisionally suspended wrestler.
"I cannot comment on the issue," was the response from an IIS official when queried about the participation of a provisionally suspended wrestler in the camp. He, however, said the tour may not go ahead due to the proposed selection trials.
Meanwhile, Siyanand, head of IIS, Hisar, who was also the tournament director at the Haryana Dangal, accepted the woman wrestler had participated in the camp. "She has been provisionally suspended, that's why she was allowed in the camp. Again that's what my opinion is as only higher officials at the IIS can talk about this elaborately," Siyanand told this daily.
Speaking on suspended wrestlers competing in the Dangal including the above-mentioned woman wrestler, he said, "The said woman wrestler was disqualified ahead of her bouts. We spoke to the National Anti Doping Agency and once we got confirmation from it then we didn't allow her to participate."
Interestingly, quite a few suspended wrestlers competed at the tournament with a few of them winning a bout or two. "We prevented a few from competing but as we didn't have any comprehensive list of suspended wrestlers, there is a possibility that a few might have gone to participate," added the tournament director.
The competition was held at the Haryana Agriculture University, Giri Centre, Shahid Madan Lal Dhingra Multipurpose Hall in Hisar. Each participant was charged Rs 1000 as entry fee for the tournament, which was held in four weight categories in each style (men's freestyle and Greco-Roman and women's wrestling). Interestingly, a couple of coaches from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) also assisted the tournament director for the competition. The winners (gold, silver and bronze medallists) were also given cash prizes apart from the medals.
A WFI source said the Italy federation mailed it seeking information on the proposed tour. "The WFI was not kept in the loop before organising the camp and holding the tournament. The federation told its Italian counterpart the same and also informed it about the presence of a suspended wrestler in the list. As far as the tournament is concerned, the guidelines clearly say the competition will be held according to the WFI and UWW Rules and Regulations but the same were not followed. How wrestlers serving suspension or provisional suspension can be allowed to compete," said the source.
