Above: A wrestling bout (file picture). Photo: YouTube

The gold-prospect Punjab wrestler was mistaken for a West Bengal wrestler of the same name, but in different weight category, and dropped from the 2002 Busan Asian Games squad

At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne an Indian wrestler Satish Kumar won gold. He also won gold at the World Police Games in Los Angeles. These were the bright spots in Kumar’s career. However, he was not a new face. When he had been selected for the 2002 Asian Games in South Korea, he was primed and ready – he was selected for the squad on August 25, 2000 – when, some time before he was to pack his bags (this happened when he was about to enter the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium for practice on September 26 of that year), he was informed that he had tested positive for banned performance enhancing substances and was being dropped from the squad.

Kumar, who had tested negative all along – even in the Sports Authority of India (SAI) tests – was devastated. He failed to make the trip and landed in depression. Thanks to his police mates, he regained control of himself and went on to win the gold medals that he did. Later, it was found that the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) had wrongly debarred him from travelling to Busan, as he was confused with another wrestler of the same name, from West Bengal, who had tested positive in the SAI-conducted dope test.

Kumar went to court, and 15 years after that fateful day that almost cost his entire career, he has won the court’s verdict that the WFI has to pay him a compensation of Rs 25 lakhs. This was against Kumar’s claim of Rs 30 lakhs as compensation.

The Delhi court that handed Kumar the victory and compensation slammed the WFI, saying the way sportspersons are treated by the federations, speaks volumes on why India is struggling at the international level.

According to agency reports, the court said: “The work culture at WFI is found to be grossly wanting in taking care of the careers of budding wrestlers who toil hard for the nation and take pride in wearing the Indian flag. Sportspersons of the calibre of Kumar are already rare in India and the way they are treated by federations led by non-sporting bosses speaks volumes on why India is still struggling for medals in Olympics and Asiads.

“It is clear that WFI messed up the whole issue and concluded that the letter issued by Manmohan Singh for Indian Olympic Association (IOA) pertains to Satish Kumar of Punjab, even though it was for Satish Kumar of West Bengal,” the court observed, says the report.

“They (WFI) should have exercised due diligence and care because other than the initial name ‘Satish Kumar’, there is nothing common between the two wrestlers. The plaintiff (Kumar) is 97 kg category, whereas the other Satish Kumar was 57 kg category wrestler.”

—India Legal Bureau