CHENNAI: In their bid to qualify for lower-age group competitions and gain undue advantage, up and coming wrestlers have come up with unique ways to reduce their age. Their bids, however, have seemingly been foiled (at least for the time being) as the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has temporarily suspended one of them and is set to initiate appropriate disciplinary proceedings against six others in accordance with the Federation’s rules and regulations.
In one such case, the national sports federation, much to its amusement, found that a 12-year-old wrestler in question has used the birth registration number of a child, who will turn four this September, to obtain a fake certificate.
“When we tried to verify the document through the application number or other particulars, we cannot find the birth certificate online. However, when we used the registration number, we found that the birth certificate pertains to a child who was born on September 20, 2021,” a WFI source told this daily.
In another case, a female wrestler submitted a birth certificate issued by the Office of the Cantonment Board, New Delhi. When enquired, the Cantonment Board confirmed that no such certificate has been issued by it. Birth certificates of at least two women wrestlers have been found fake so far.
The wrestler, who has been temporarily suspended, was found to have two birth certificates – one obtained from Haryana and another from Delhi. The former certificate mentions his birth year as 2006 while the latter says he was born in 2009.
“As of now, the WFI has temporarily suspended him and upon receiving officials, response, the federation will initiate strict disciplinary action as per the rules and regulations,” said a WFI official pleading anonymity.
