Ministry denies WFI demand to add more names to TOPS list

Sabi Hussain

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 16

The wrestling arena has been a happy hunting ground for India at the Olympics as the country boasts of four medals from the quadrennial event.

Keeping in mind the high medal hopes attached to the sport, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) recently approached the Sports Ministry with a proposal to provide financial assistance to seven promising grapplers under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS).

These seven names — Mausam Khatri, Narsingh Yadav, Sandeep Tulsi Yadav (men’s freestyle and Greco-roman) and Geeta Phogat, Lalita Sehrawat, Sakshi Malik and Lalita (women’s freestyle) — were in addition to the list of the selected grapplers under the TOPS. The ministry has already been funding double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, London Olympic bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt, Sandeep Tomar, Amit Kumar Dahiya, Bajrang, Satyavrat Kadiyan, Vinesh and Babita under the TOPS.

“The WFI was of the view that the wrestling discipline deserved special attention and a major chunk of the funding for the Rio Games. Wrestling has been India’s brightest medal hopes among the seven sports disciplines covered under the TOPS. The seven names suggested to the ministry were of the wrestlers who have been performing consistently well at the international level. The WFI thought that these wrestlers also have the potential to qualify for the Olympics and needed additional funding. But, the ministry refused to add any more names to the already existing list of eight grapplers,” a senior WFI official told The Tribune.

The ministry, however, did not send the WFI back empty-handed. It promised to take care of the financial and training needs of the seven wrestlers through the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF).

According to a fresh proposal submitted by the WFI, the ministry has agreed to allow these wrestlers undertake foreign exposure trips outside the Annual Competition and Training Calendar (ACTC) for 2015-16. “They can choose to train in a particular country or engage a specialised coach for a short period after getting the additional funding from the NSDF,” the official informed.