The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has suspended 11 wrestlers for submitting fake birth certificates. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) verified more than 110 such documents after WFI had provided them with a list of certificates for verification, suspecting foul play in recent registrations.
Wrestlers trying to represent a state different from their domicile by procuring fake birth certificates has been one of the major issues in the sport at the moment. In some cases, the certificates have been issued after a massive 12 to 15 years after the birth of the child. For the same reason, WFI asked MCD to verify the documents and they found several wrestlers have submitted fake birth certificates.
Tough competition in Haryana forcing wrestlers to procure fake birth certificates
With Haryana being the hotbed of wrestling, the competition in the state is very tough and for many, it is hard to make the cut. Hence, athletes who are keen to make a career in wrestling try to come through the neighbouring state of Delhi by submitting fake certificates.
In its reply, MCD has made it clear that the birth certificates were issued only on the orders of SDM and there is no lapse on its part. "95 birth certificates have been issued by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi only after getting orders from the Sub-Divisional Magistrate and there is no lapse on the part of the MCD," the reply read.
The fake certificates belonged to Saksham, Manuj, Kavita, Anshu, Arush Rana, Shubham, Gautam, Jagrup Dhankar, Nakul, Dushyant, and Siddharth Baliyan as the MCD stated that these athletes submitted fake, photoshopped or edited certificates.
WFI official's statement
Six of the 11 certificates are from the Narela zone, two from the Najafgarh zone, and one each from the Rohini, Civil Line and City zones. "We have sent a suspension notice to six of these wrestlers today (August 7). We had already suspended five others for submitting fake certificates. The WFI is keen to clean up the system. We have already taken some steps and continue to do the needful. The WFI wants a clean system where no genuine wrestler is wronged. No one should get any unfair advantage," the WFI official told PTI.
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