Wrestling Federation of India issues notice to Sushil Kumar over stadium scuffle

Parveen Rana wrote to the WFI earlier this week, accusing Sushil Kumar and his supporters of beating up him and his brother Naveen.

Around 20-25 spectators ran down the narrow corridor of the Indira Gandhi stadium, slapping and heckling Sushil Kumar’s semifinal opponent Praveen Rana.

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has issued a notice to two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar as a part of its investigation into the fracas that followed the Commonwealth Games selection trials last week, a senior official said on Thursday.

Sushil has been given three days to explain the actions of his supporters and respond to the charges leveled against him by Parveen Rana, his challenger in the 74kg freestyle weight class, in a written complain to the WFI. Rana wrote to the WFI earlier this week, accusing Sushil and his supporters of beating up him and his brother Naveen.

Rana also alleged that ‘fraud’ was committed in the bout and added that scoring was done in a ‘biased’ manner as the referees were acting under pressure from Sushil’s corner who he said behaved aggressively. Sushil defeated Rana 7-3 in the bout before beating another wrestler, Jitender, to book his place in the CWG-bound squad. However, moments after the final bout, Rana alleged he and his brother were beaten up by a group of men who he identified as Sushil’s supporters. They subsequently lodged a police complaint against Sushil and six others from the Chhtrasal Stadium, where they all trained together before Rana moved to Sonepat. WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar said no action is being planned against Sushil as of now. “We are investigating the allegations made by Rana and have sent a notice to Sushil, asking him to explain last Friday’s incidents,” Tomar said. “We have given him three days to respond and after that, we will decide the future course of action.”

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The issue will be referred to WFI’s disciplinary committee, who are also likely to review the bout under the supervision of United World Wrestling jury member and referee Ashok Kumar Bhanwala. “The bout might be reviewed because Rana has alleged fraud. However, all our officials were present on the day of the trials and there was nothing wrong technically,” Tomar said.

Rana and Sushil are India’s two main contenders in the 74kg category but the healthy competition between the two has turned into a full-blooded rivalry over the last year or so after Rana left Chhatrasal to train independently. At the national championships, Rana gave Sushil a walkover in the final. A month later, they faced each other at the Commonwealth Championships in Johannesburg, where Sushil prevailed 5-4. The bout for a place in the CWG squad was hotly-contested, with Sushil accusing Rana of biting him.