WFI suspends 11 Wrestlers for fake birth certificates

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has suspended 11 wrestlers for allegedly submitting forged birth certificates, following a detailed verification process by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), as per PTI.

The crackdown comes amid growing concerns over age manipulation and misrepresentation of domicile in national-level wrestling competitions.

The WFI had sent 110 birth certificates to the MCD for verification. While 95 of these were confirmed as delayed registrations — processed only on orders from the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), the remaining 11 were deemed fake, tampered, or edited using software.

Rampant age fraud and domicile manipulation

Over the years, Indian wrestling has faced persistent challenges with overage athletes entering age-group events to gain unfair advantages.

The issue is compounded by wrestlers procuring fake birth certificates to represent states like Delhi, despite originally belonging to Haryana, a state known for its deep talent pool and intense internal competition.

Names and zones of suspended wrestlers

The wrestlers suspended include: Saksham, Manuj, Kavita, Anshu, Arush Rana, Shubham, Gautam, Jagrup Dhankar, Nakul, Dushyant, and Siddharth Baliyan.

According to the MCD’s report, six of these forged certificates originated from the Narela zone, two from Najafgarh, and one each from Rohini, Civil Lines, and the City zone.

The WFI confirmed it had already issued suspension notices to five of these athletes earlier and has now acted against the remaining six. It was also revealed that two other wrestlers had altered their certificate registration dates, which did not match MCD records.