The wait for which wrestler will represent the country in the 74kg weight category — Sushil Kumar or Narsingh Yadav — at the Rio Olympics continued as the Delhi high court on Wednesday again postponed the hearing, till Thursday.
On a day when all in the courtroom were awaiting a verdict putting an end to the tussle — Sushil vs Wrestling Federation of India over a trial bout — the court questioned the Olympic medallist wrestler for finding fault in the federation’s policy which had enabled him to make it to the Olympics thrice.
Justice Manmohan said Narsingh was not a “pushover” to represent the country at Rio.
“This is the policy (of WFI) which have been in place since long and now you (Sushil) are saying that this policy is wrong,” asked the court adding that the wrestler had gone for three Olympics by “following the same policy”.
Senior advocate Amit Sibal, appearing for Sushil, stressed on the sports code to be followed by the federation. “Not having a trial is direct violation of the Sports Code.”
To this, the court however said, “He (Yadav) had qualified for the world wrestling championship and had won a medal. He is a champion. He is not a push over. He has proved his mettle in an international event.” Sushil approached the high court after his name did not figure in the Rio preparatory camp, while Narsingh has staked his claim to represent India in Rio after winning a quota place at the World Championship last year,
WFI plans affected Meanwhile, WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar admitted that the case has delayed preparations of Rio-bound wrestlers.
The eight Olympic quota winner wrestlers, currently based in Sonepat, were scheduled to leave for Poland on Thursday, but a communication gap between the Polish embassy and the WFI led to cancellation of the tour.
“There was a problem with the visa clearance. There was no communication from the Polish embassy and we have to await for the online visa process till June 17. We can’t wait so long, our athletes have to train,” Tomar told this paper, adding that wrestlers will now leave for Bulgaria on Sunday, for a 15-day training programme.
“Of late, we have been busy with the case in the high court. Every now and then, we need to provide details to our lawyer in regard to the case. We are facing a difficult situation, as we are not able to expedite the process of their overseas training.”
The training-cum-competition programme in Poland was scheduled till July 7. The official added that they would try to get an extension from the Bulgarian federation.
“If it doesn’t happen, the athletes will come back and travel to some other country for training. We had written to several countries including Turkey, Belarus and Georgia, but we are yet to get a response,” he added.
All this at a time the Rio Games are barely two months away.
