The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on Monday served a show-cause notice to Paris Olympics bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat for being overweight at the World wrestling championships in Zagreb recently.
Prioritising strict adherence to weight limits, the WFI also decided to do away with the two kg relaxation usually given to wrestlers during selection trials. The stipulation will start with the under-23 trials scheduled in Lucknow and Delhi on October 4 and 5 respectively for the World under-23 championships in Novi Sad, Serbia, from October 20 to 26.
“Aman and the support staff assisting him in Zagreb have been issued show-cause notices. They need to reply by September 29. We have to hear their side of the story before taking a decision,” WFI president Sanjay Singh told The Hindu.
Third-seeded Aman, a strong medal contender, was ineligible to compete in the World championships as he was overweight by 1.7kg ahead of his men’s 57kg freestyle competition.
Sanjay Singh was unhappy that crores of rupees being spent by the Government on organising camps abroad was being wasted due to negligence. “The Minister (Mansukh Mandaviya) feels that unless we check this, it will be difficult to expect medals in the Olympics,” he added.
After Vinesh Phogat’s overweight issue at the Paris Olympics, which made the ace wrestler ineligible to compete in the women’s 50kg final and practically denied India a medal, the promising Neha Sangwan (59kg) could not participate in the World under-20 championships last month for not meeting the weight limit.
Aman’s case was the third such incident by an Indian wrestler at an international event in about a year.
Published – September 22, 2025 09:09 pm IST
