WFI withholds technical officials for inter-university wrestling meet
The All India Inter-University Wrestling Championship, scheduled to be hosted by Chandigarh University from January 5, has been thrown into uncertainty after the host institution opted for a referee panel different from the one recommended by the WFI, leading to the national federation declining to depute technical officials.
The Association of Indian Universities (AIU) on December 11 issued a circular clearly stating that the concerned National Sports Federation would supervise the technical conduct of the championship.
In response, Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) submitted a panel of international referees to the AIU on December 24 for officiating the competition. However, the federation informed the AIU on December 27 that Chandigarh University had not approached it directly for the referee panel.
On December 30, WFI received a separate panel of referees proposed by Chandigarh University for approval. The federation told the host university that it had already forwarded an approved panel to the AIU and advised Chandigarh University to appoint officials from that list as per its requirement.
WFI said no response was received from Chandigarh University thereafter. The AIU, on December 31, once again forwarded the WFI-approved panel of referees to the host institution. “Despite this, Chandigarh University did not initiate any further communication with WFI regarding the appointment of technical officials,” the federation said.
Consequently, on January 2, WFI formally informed both the AIU and Chandigarh University that, in the absence of confirmation and given the extremely short notice, it would not be feasible for technical officials — who would need to travel from different parts of the country — to attend the championship.
WFI also raised concerns that the host university had approached the TSR system vendor seeking to conduct the competition draws manually instead of using a computerised system, a move the federation said went against established norms aimed at ensuring transparency.
The stand-off has cast a shadow over the technical conduct of the championship, a key event in the university sports calendar and an important platform for emerging wrestlers, with uncertainty now looming over the smooth conduct of the competition. WFI bars technical officials from inter-university wrestling meet.
