CHENNAI: Even as the National Wrestling Championships begins in Bengaluru on Friday, all eyes will be on the annual general meeting (AGM) of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) scheduled on the last day (Sunday).

As the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) has decided not to field its wrestlers, the championship, as reported by this daily, will not see participation from most of the country’s elite wrestlers including the Paris Olympics bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat.

A similar situation arose last year when the WFI held the nationals in Pune while the ad-hoc panel, which was then running the day-to-day affairs of the federation, organised it in Jaipur with the RSPB being the hosts. “This is the second time, the RSPB is not sending its wrestlers for the nationals. The reason is said to be the sports ministry’s order wherein it suspended the WFI. But if that is the case then the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) should also not have sent the entries for the Bengaluru event. This issue will be discussed in the AGM,” a WFI source told this daily.

Coincidentally, Prem Chand Lochab, secretary of the RSPB, is also secretary-general of the wrestling federation. He had told this daily that the Railway wrestlers were not competing in the nationals as the federation has been suspended by the sports ministry.

The source, however, said this decision has been depriving several wrestlers from competing in the nationals. “As many as 12 RSPB wrestlers took part in the state championships of a few states to qualify for the nationals. They will be representing states like Chandigarh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. This shows how the wrestlers are desperate to compete but their employer is not allowing them,” added the source.