WFI fraud puts wrestlers on the mat

The problem is not so much with the latter as it is with the larger chunk of nearly Rs 9 lakh, particularly the way the federation cheated the ministry while claiming the amount with fake bills.

The ministry gives a grant of Rs 6 lakh for the sub-junior nationals (equal amounts for boys and girls, that is Rs 12 lakh), and it sanctioned and paid 75 per cent (approximately Rs 9 lakh) in advance for conducting the two events that year. And, as is the procedure, the WFI submitted its bills for the amount spent along with the utilisation certificates (UCs) under the ministry guidelines in order to claim the balance.

But where the WFI erred was in submitting the fake bills and underestimating the ministry officials’ knowledge about such things. The ministry smelt a rat and contacted the people in Haridwar to dig deep into the whole affair to find out if WFI had paid up the amount mentioned for the accommodation.

The ministry inquiry revealed that the WFI had put up all the participants in a dharamshala there and it did not issue any bills to the federation. The ministry also found out that the dharamshala never charged any money and accepted only donation from those who can pay.

The ministry could have censured the WFI on charges of misleading and cheating. But, taking a lenient view, it asked the WFI to pay back the money. But then the WFI went into a limbo following the internal wrangling among the members.

The WFI had split vertically by then and there was hardly any activity during the period with a retired High Court judge overseeing the affairs of WFI.

The elections to the WFI were held recently and GS Mander and his party were voted to power. Subsequently, the ministry broached the pending money matter and told the WFI that it cannot clear teams unless they cleared the pending dues.

As a result, the WFI could not send its junior team for the Asian meet in Manila early this month. The WFI had conducted the trials and forwarded the names to the ministry for clearance. But the ministry stuck to its guns. According to sources, the WFI may not be able to send its team to the Asian Cadet Championships to be held in Taiwan next month.

WFI president Mander, when contacted, told The Indian Express that the federation and the wrestlers were paying for the mistake of his predecessors. “I have verbally agreed to pay back the dues pending towards the government, but we can’t do that overnight. It’s a huge amount. It will take some time to clear all the dues,” he said.

As for the embezzlement of funds and submitting fake bills to the ministry, he said he would wait for the audit before thinking of any action against the officials responsible for the mess. “We will seek legal advice before proceeding.”

Mander also said the federation has only recently paid the FILA affiliation fee which had accumulated to Rs 3 lakh. “Even this amount was pending since long,” he said.

Considered the most important discipline in terms of medal counts both in Beijing and the New Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010, the wrestlers could well be grappling with the kind of a new problem. Unless the ministry bails out with another lenient view, WFI’s world championship — also the Olympic qualifiers — plans could be floored.