‘No camps, amenities’: How Indian wrestlers were left to ‘fend for themselves’ ahead of Asian Games

“If Indian wrestlers win medals at Asian Games this year, the credit would be theirs entirely, and not the system,” Gian Singh, Wrestling Federation of India’s ad-hoc committee official, told Newslaundry. “They have been left to fend for themselves,” he said, pointing to the suspension of the Sports Authority of India’s national camps for wrestlers this year.  

“We are unsure of wrestlers’ performance at the Asian Games because we do not know how their preparation went,” said Ashok Garg, one of the five members of the ad-hoc committee formed by the Indian Olympic Association in April this year to oversee the affairs of the Wrestling Federation of India. Since January, the WFI has been marred in controversy over the wrestlers’ protests on allegations of sexual harassment against its former chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.  

Out of the 18 wrestlers shortlisted for competing at the ongoing 19th Asian Games in China’s Hangzhou — after trials in June — camps were held only for six wrestlers under the Greco-Roman category, Garg confirmed. No national or international camps were organised to train the freestyle wrestlers – 12 in total, including both men and women.  

Ahead of the trials for major tournaments, the SAI runs eight-to-ten month long national camps at its centres on the WFI’s proposal. Over 300 male wrestlers are coached at the sports authority’s Sonepat centre, while more than 100 women wrestlers are trained at its Lucknow facility. This year, as top wrestlers began their protest against Brij Bhushan in January, leading to his suspension, no national camps were held. For the Asian Championship, however, a “short camp” was organised between January and April. 

The month-long international camps, usually held by the SAI for shortlisted wrestlers across all categories ahead of an international tournament, were only organised for Greco-Roman wrestlers in the run up to the Asian Games. 

SAI deputy director Prashant Singh told Newslaundry that the ad-hoc committee had proposed a “national camp” to the shortlisted freestyle wrestlers about two months before the Asian Games. 

They pointed out that the only camp held this year was suspended a day before the start of the Asian Championship on April 8, and not resumed later, and this would have a “damaging effect on Indian wrestling in the long run”. 

‘No sparring partner, physiotherapist’ 

Kiran Godara, 29, the first Indian woman to win a bronze medal for India in the 76-kg category at Commonwealth Games in 2018, told Newslaundry that her training was full of “jugaad”, a colloquial term for innovative fixes. These “jugaads” included using stitched up wrestling mats, and farm containers as ice bath tubs.      

The athlete trained at a Haryana government training centre, Mahabir Stadium, in Hisar for months ahead of the Asian Games, and struggled to find a suitable sparring partner and physiotherapist.   

Vishnu Das, Godara’s personal coach and staffer at Mahabir Stadium, told Newslaundry that on most days, Godara was compelled to train with male wrestlers in absence of a sparring partner, and she did not have a physiotherapist for over a month during her three-month training for Asian Games.  

“There are very few women wrestlers in the 76-kg weight category in India. It was very difficult to find a sparring partner to practise with her. So, for two days a week I would call women wrestlers from other centres in Hisar, and on other days, she would have to practise with male wrestlers,” said Das. He added that practising with male wrestlers was “helpful as they have more strength, but it also increased the chances of injury.” 

He said that suitable physiotherapists needed to work on muscle recovery and injuries after practice sessions were sparse in the district. “Physiotherapy prepares wrestlers to be ready for the consecutive sessions of practice, but Godara was without a therapist for over a month even as the Asian Games was closing in.”  

“Physiotherapists are not easily available here. So, what could we have done?” asked Das. 

Wrestlers Mansi Ahlawat, 22, and Pooja Gehlot, 26, who are competing at the Asian Games under 57-kg and 50-kg categories, and trained at state-run Chotu Ram Stadium in Rohtak, also faced similar issues.  

Both the wrestlers training under Mandeep — who was also Sakshi Malik’s personal trainer between 2010 to 2017 — struggled to find the right woman sparring partner and suitable physiotherapist. Mandeep said the wrestlers would get better physiotherapy facilities at the national camps, but they could “still manage as they were sponsored by JSW and OGQ”.   

“Both Mansi and Pooja are sponsored by JSW and OGQ, who provided them with physiotherapy. But what about those wrestlers who do not have sponsors? How will they afford it?” asked Mandeep. He added that a month’s physiotherapy for a wrestler cost about Rs 50,000. “At camps, regular check-ups are also done to identify injuries, which helps in early treatment. They have better gym facilities too. Wrestlers have missed out on all this.” 

‘Unfair, can’t compensate for international camp facilities’ 

The national camp level players and facilities are “hard to find at private coaching centres at district levels”, said Vikas Bhardawaj, personal coach of under 53-kg category wrestler Antim Phangal. The 19-year-old won a bronze medal at the World Wrestling Championship last month and is competing at the Asian Games.  

“The current scenario is utterly unfair for our wrestlers. We cannot compensate for the facilities and coaches of international camps at district-level centres,” said Bhardawaj, adding that Phangal managed to bag a bronze but “was extremely hurt that the national anthem wasn’t played” while she was conferred the medal.      

“What I and Antim were most hurt about was that India’s flag was not hoisted and the national anthem was not played when she won the bronze medal at the World Championship this year,” said Bharadwaj. “It is because the WFI has been suspended for violating the United World Wrestling constitution, which mandates that all federations must hold elections every four years,” he explained. 

The wrestlers have been barred from playing under the Indian flag because of the WFI’s suspension by the international governing body for not holding routine elections. 

Radhika, 20, competing at the Asian Games for the first time under 68-kg weight category, said the national and international camps would have helped her boost her confidence. She said, “No federation is a definite loss.” 

Meanwhile, Kiran Godara’s coach told Newslaundry that in absence of professional camps, the athletes face a string of “less significant” problems. At Godara’s coaching centre in Hisar, the wrestling mats were old and worn out, and “not of good quality”. He said the decade-old training centre did not have facilities such as ice baths that are required to heal injuries after practice sessions. 

“A lot of times when the state government does not reimburse maintenance bills of Rs 4,000. All of us at the centre, including coaches and students, contribute between Rs 50 and Rs 100 to keep the centre running,” Das said. 

“Last time, we pooled in money to get wrestling mats stitched. For ice baths, we have converted tubs used by farmers to sprinkle fields. But to buy ice slabs, we have to again contribute money.” 

Disproportional facilities for men and women 

Newslaundry learnt that while wrestlers across the board suffered, women wrestlers were much worse off as the men’s freestyle wrestlers could still access the elite facilities for personal training. 

The dedicated men's wrestling centre at Delhi’s Chhatrasal Stadium ranks among Asia’s top wrestling facilities and has been the training ground for four out of six Olympic medallist Indian wrestlers.  

The stadium is equipped with two massive indoor wrestling arenas with UWW-approved mattresses, and also has traditional mud-pit akharas or wrestling ground, besides international standard gym, among other amenities. 

Two freestyle wrestlers, Sumit Malik under 125-kg category and Aman Sehrawat under 57-kg category trained at Chhatrasal Stadium ahead of the Asian Games. 

Malik and Sehrawat’s coach Jaiveer Dahiya told Newslaundry that over 200 wrestlers train at the stadium at a time. “Finding the right sparring partner is not an issue… Camps should be organised. But those who train here, do not suffer if it’s not held.” 

He added that women wrestlers are “deprived of such facilities, and so, are more at loss”. 

Coach Vishnu Das also iterated that there are “good private training centres in Haryana for women, but they can’t match up to the facilities at Chhatrasal Stadium because it receives massive government funding. So, yes, definitely women wrestlers are at a loss because they can’t access it”.

‘Uncertainty jeopardising job opportunities’ 

Phangal’s coach, Bhardawaj also spotlighted that besides the suspension of national camps, the uncertainty around the WFI has jeopardised the national championship. “We are uncertain if it will be held. That will be a bigger loss,” he said, adding that the national championship is crucial for wrestlers for securing government jobs.    

“It is not possible for all wrestlers to win gold at international level. So, winning medals at the national level championships make them eligible for government jobs… As most athletes do not have proper education, these national championships are necessary for their survival. We are making our athletes vulnerable. It is utterly unfair.” 

People aware of the matter told Newslaundry that uncertainty looms over the national championship, although talks are on to “conduct it with the cooperation of other government departments”. 

The four-to-seven day long national championships are usually held in November, and witnesses the participation of over 480 wrestlers across the three categories - men’s freestyle, women’s freestyle and Greco-Roman. 

Greco-Roman’s push for camps, a proposal ‘too late’  

“We were pushing the ad-hoc committee continuously to send a proposal to SAI to organise our international camp,” said Kuldeep Singh, national coach of Greco-Roman. “Without international camp, it would not have been possible…our players would not have been able to perform.” 

Greco-Roman wrestling is one of the oldest sports of the Olympics but is not as popular as free-style wrestling in India.    

The national coaches in the category told Newslaundry that the players would have been “worst-hit” had there been no international camp for them, as it is “tough” to find the right sparring partner domestically. 

The SAI organised a two-week international camp in Azerbaijan’s Baku for the six shortlisted Greco-Roman wrestlers in September, and another one-week camp in Romania in October.  

SAI deputy director Prashant Singh told Newslaundry that the ad-hoc committee had also proposed a “national camp” to the shortlisted freestyle wrestlers about two months before the Asian Games. 

But five women wrestlers competing at the Asian Games told Newslaundry that the proposal made in August was “too late”, and was not acceptable as it would have “disrupted” their training routine. 

Meanwhile, national coach SP Yadav said that across categories, not organising “proper camps” was a “loss for the ministry of sports, SAI and the federation as it made them incapable of assessing the athlete’s performance”. He said that in the camps, a weekly performance report is prepared of all the players. “This year we might not see the direct implications of this, but in the long run we will realise.” 

The ad-hoc committee’s Ashok Garg and Gyan Singh said that the international camp for Greco - Roman wrestlers was held “because their coaches had pushed for it, but the ad-hoc committee could not take a timely decision for other categories”.  

Singh also blamed the unavailability of ad-hoc committee chairman Bhupender Singh Bajwa for the inaction. “We could not take decisions also because chairman Bhupender Bajwa did not have time for us. He would never meet us and would always be confused. Moreover, he is not from a wrestling background so he does not know anything about the game.” 

The businessman has been the Chef De Mission for Asian Games, appointed by the Indian Olympic Association, for two consecutive years. The Chef De Mission is responsible for the planning, team’s logistics and communication for the tournament. 

Meanwhile, Garg emphasised on the consequences of a lack of functioning federation. “Until we have a federation, the ad-hoc committees are not in a position to make decisions. Only a proper body can only push SAI, and the ministry of sports, if and when required for the benefit of the game. Without it, Indian wrestling is going to suffer.” 

Newslaundry had earlier reported that the man at the centre of the WFI’s debacle, six-time BJP MP Brij Bhushan has got a finger in every pie – politics, real estate, sand mining, education, liquor contracts, the underworld, and even murder. 

Another report detailed that the former WFI chief and his close aide functioned from the federation’s office despite their suspension. Moreover, in an interaction with Newslaundry, Brij Bhushan conceded that he was “very happy”, despite the serious allegations of sexual harassment against him. Read all about it here.

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