Writing on the wall: Grapplers suffer as Indian wrestling sinks to a new low

This article originally appeared in The Field’s newsletter, Game Points, on August 30, 2023. Sign up here to get the newsletter directly delivered to your inbox every week.

On August 24, United World Wrestling made good on their warning. The global body provisionally suspended the Wrestling Federation of India for failing to conduct elections on time.

The suspension came just two weeks before Indian wrestlers were set to compete at the Wrestling World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia – an important Olympic qualification event.

Now, if any Indian wrestler wins a medal, neither the Indian flag nor the Indian national anthem – in case of a gold medal – will accompany their celebrations. Their uniforms will not carry the country’s name or logo either. They will stand as neutral athletes.

The decision of the global federation was on the cards, though. They had issued a public warning. But there was not a strong and cohesive enough effort to avoid the suspension.

In January this year, a group of prominent wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Vinesh Phogat, launched a protest against the then national wrestling federation chief Brij Bhushan Singh Sharan, whom they accused of sexual harassment.

It took over three months for the Sports Ministry to take cognizance of the...

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