A show-cause notice has been served to four Indian wrestlers, namely Babita Kumari, Geeta Phogat, Rahul Aware and Sumit by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) today. The governing body cited indiscipline as the cause for temporary international suspension. This also means that they will not be able to participate in the upcoming Olympic qualifier in Istanbul.
“They are indefinitely suspended, after a meeting by senior WFI officials. We can confirm that they will not be a part of the Olympic qualifiers this year. We are yet to decide, when the ban will be revoke,” said a senior WFI official.
The recently concluded Olympic qualifier in Mongolia saw both Babita (53 kg) and Geeta (58 kg) pull out from their respective bouts. Both stated injury as the concern for not showing up.
Sumit was just one repechage away from securing an Olympic spot, but the heavyweight failed to turn up for his final bout. The official added, “Sumit's decision to miss the bout paints India in very bad light, especially considering how close he was. As a governing body we must uphold the importance of Olympic qualification.”
On being asked, whether there could have been an actual injury, the official stated that there was a formal procedure for pulling out. He added, “There is a formal process one needs to go through, if they want to pull out. They didn't bother to inform us either. Hence, they have been debarred.”
The second qualification tournament is scheduled between May 6 – May 8 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Rahul Aware's case is slightly different as compared to the other three. The middleweight grappler refused to join India's Greco-Roman team in Georgia, doubting his Mongolia and Turkey qualification.
The official added,”He decided not to board the flight to Georgia, thinking WFI won't select him for Mongolia or Turkey, which in turn wasted the organisation's funds. We work on a thin budget, and try and provide the best for our wrestlers. That cannot be disrespected at any point.”
Replacing Babita and Geeta will be Lalita and Sakshi Malik respectively.
