New Delhi – In a major initiative to combat age-related fraud, over 500 wrestlers have been disqualified from the U-17 National Open Ranking Tournament in Gonda. This action follows the Wrestling Federation of India’s implementation of a strict Aadhaar-based verification system, which revealed significant inconsistencies in participants’ age and birth records.
Event Context
The tournament took place from June 6 to 8 in the Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh, attracting approximately 1,200 wrestlers competing in men’s freestyle, Greco Roman, and women’s divisions.
In addition to the standard requirement of birth certificates for age verification, participants were required to present Aadhaar cards linked to their mobile numbers and authenticate using OTP via the Aadhaar app, which tracks any modifications to the document.
This verification process resulted in the disqualification of around 500 wrestlers, including 300 in men’s freestyle, 125 in Greco Roman, and about 50 in women’s wrestling, due to inconsistencies between the information on their birth certificates and Aadhaar records.
In many instances, discrepancies were noted where the place and date of birth on Aadhaar did not align with those listed on birth certificates, particularly for documents issued years after the wrestler’s actual birth date.
One notable case involved a wrestler whose birth certificate stated a date of birth as 2007 and a place of birth in Delhi’s Narela area, while his Aadhaar records indicated he was born in Haryana in 2004.
This mismatch led the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) to request clarification from the issuing hospital regarding the birth certificate.
After completing the verification, only 350 wrestlers in men’s freestyle, 185 women wrestlers, and 160 Greco Roman wrestlers were permitted to compete in the tournament.
WFI officials announced that this same verification process would be utilized in forthcoming age-group competitions, including the U-17 World Championship women’s trials on June 14 in Sonepat and the men’s trials on June 15 in Lucknow, as the federation intensifies its efforts to combat age-related fraud.
Team Analysis
Sanjay Singh, president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to maintaining fairness within the sport. He highlighted the federation’s ongoing efforts to enhance the verification process in age-group competitions.
“We are committed to eliminating age fraud in wrestling, as it undermines the integrity of competitions and negatively impacts genuine athletes when overage participants take part in age-group events. The Aadhaar verification process has proven effective in identifying discrepancies, and we will rigorously apply it in all upcoming U-15, U-17, and U-20 competitions,” Singh stated.
Recently, the federation took a strong stance by suspending five wrestlers after uncovering fraudulent birth certificates during their document examination, emphasizing their determination to combat age record manipulation.
