In Sushil Kumar vs WFI, both sides throw their punches in High court

Justice Manmohan will hear the case again on Monday. Senior advocate Amit Sibal, appearing for Kumar, argued that the WFI officials had referred to Sushil’s refusal to participate in the league during the meeting Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and other officer bearers on May 18.

Sibal said it ‘appeared from the stand taken in the meeting’ that the WFI was ‘upset’ that Sushil had refused to participate in the PWL. “You cannot take the stand that because I’m upset with you for not joining the private commercial league, I will not hold trials,” argued Sibal.

PWL controversy

The PWL has been a bone of contention since its beginning. Sushil was originally snapped up by Uttar Pradesh Wizards for Rs 38.2 lakh at the players’ auction. It was lower than what London Olympics bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt fetched (Rs 39.7 lakh by Haryana) and even Oksana Herhel, the women’s world champion from Ukraine, commanded more money than Sushil, with Haryana splurging Rs 41.3 to avail her services.

Sharan said Sushil’s representative requested him to consider the wrestler’s stature and increase his fees to Rs 51 lakh, which would make Sushil the highest-paid player in the league. “A certain Mr Raheja, who I believe takes care of Sushil’s PR, approached me and requested to increase the money to Rs 51 lakh. I, in turn, told the franchise owners (cricketer Rohit Sharma and real estate developers Lotus Greens) who were initially not willing. But after some convincing from my side, they agreed to do so,” Sharan told The Indian Express.

“However, after a few days Sushil informed me that he was nursing an injury and won’t be able to take part in PWL. He did not provide any medical certificate.”

Sushil did not take the money for PWL but the last-minute pull-out left many in the WFI fuming as they believed it severely hit the tournament’s popularity and reach.

The court was hearing an appeal made by Sushil last week, seeking trials to select India’s representative in the 74kg category in the Rio Games. The WFI has decided to send Narsingh, who won the quota last September. Sushil was not present at the hearing on Friday but Narsingh drove to the court from Sonepat, where he is training.

In the packed court room, Narsingh’s lawyer claimed that “fair and scientific” trials had been held for each of the qualifying events for the Olympics. Senior advocate Nidhesh Gupta reiterated that while Narsingh had qualified for the berth, Sushil had failed to participate in all the selection trials as he was ‘busy doing commercials’.
“You (Sushil) have been busy doing commercials instead of participating in the trials,” argued Gupta, who told the court that the demand for trials ‘at this stage was perverse.’

“If the demand for trials is allowed at this stage, all the previous selection trials will become meaningless,” said Gupta.

The Sushil camp, meanwhile, argued that the government had spent tax-payers’ money on Sushil’s training under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme. Under the scheme, Sushil is entitled to get Rs 75 lakh for his preparations for the Rio Games. “The WFI has admitted to taking a discrete decision to send Narsingh even though Sushil was sent to Georgia for training for several days. He was being given resources especially to train for the Olympics. It is clear that something has happened since then,” Sibal said.

The WFI shot back by slamming Sushil’s behaviour at the camp in Georgia, alleging he stayed alone and practised away from the national team. “Because of this, the chief national coach Jagminder Singh had given a report that he could not give any opinion about Sushil’s fitness or training levels,” said senior advocate Pradeep Dewan, representing WFI.

The court has set the next date of hearing on Monday, and directed the WFI and Narsingh to file their arguments in writing.