Wrestling continues to grapple for survival

ARLIER this month, a Greco-Roman wrestler from Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB), who was representing Rajasthan in the senior national championships in Bengaluru, got a few calls after he won the first bout.

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He was instructed to pull out of the tournament as the RSPB has not given him a no-objection certificate (NOC) to compete in the championships.

A few Railway wrestlers though represented their home states and even won medals but a majority of them were deprived of the nationals organised by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) for the second straight year.

The same was the case last year as well. Repercussions for non-participation, however, could be more this time as in 2023 two nationals were organised - one by the WFI and other by the ad-hoc committee.

The second one was hosted by the RSPB and hence their wrestlers got a tournament even if they were not allowed to compete in the WFI's event.