Over 500 wrestlers disqualified at U-17 tournament in WFI's age fraud crackdown
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More than 500 wrestlers were disqualified from the U-17 National Open Ranking Tournament in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda district after the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) introduced a stricter Aadhaar-based age verification process.
The tournament, held from June 6 to 8, attracted around 1,200 entries across men's freestyle, Greco-Roman, and women's categories.
In addition to birth certificates, wrestlers were required to submit Aadhaar cards linked to their mobile numbers and complete OTP-based authentication through the Aadhaar app. The verification process enabled officials to check records and identify discrepancies in personal details.
The scrutiny resulted in the disqualification of nearly 500 wrestlers, including around 300 in men's freestyle, 125 in Greco-Roman, and about 50 in women's wrestling. Officials found mismatches between information provided in birth certificates and Aadhaar records, particularly in dates and places of birth.
One case involved a wrestler whose birth certificate listed his birth year as 2007 and place of birth as Narela in Delhi, while Aadhaar records reportedly showed he was born in Haryana in 2004. The discrepancy led the WFI to seek clarification from the hospital that issued the birth certificate.
Following the verification exercise, only 350 wrestlers in men's freestyle, 185 women wrestlers, and 160 Greco-Roman wrestlers were cleared to compete.
WFI president Sanjay Singh said the federation was committed to eliminating age fraud from the sport.
"We are determined to eradicate age fraud from wrestling. Genuine athletes suffer when overage competitors participate in age-group events. The Aadhaar verification process has helped us identify discrepancies, and we will continue to implement it strictly in all future U-15, U-17, and U-20 competitions," he said.
The federation recently suspended five wrestlers after detecting fake birth certificates during document scrutiny.
WFI officials said the same verification system will be used at upcoming age-group events, including the U-17 World Championship women's trials in Sonepat on June 14 and the men's trials in Lucknow on June 15.