WFI suspends Greco Roman wrestler Sanjeev over domicile, identity discrepancies

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has suspended Greco Roman wrestler Sanjeev after discrepancies were found in his domicile and identity documents, according to a notice issued by the federation on Thursday.

WFI said the documents it had received from Sanjeev showed conflicting information regarding his place of birth and residence between Delhi and Haryana.

Sanjeev had competed in senior world championship, held in non-Olympic weight categories, last year. He had lost his opening round in 55kg competition.

According to the notice, a birth certificate for the wrestler was issued by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Rohini Zone, in August 2022 — 22 years after his recorded date of birth on November 20, 2000.

Within weeks, a Haryana Resident Certificate was issued to him by the state government in September 2022.

Subsequently, Regional Passport Office in Delhi issued a passport to Sanjeev in June 2023, listing Delhi as his place of birth and address, while records from Citizen Resource Information Department (CRID) of Haryana reflected him as a resident of Jind, Haryana.

Citing these inconsistencies, WFI said it was unable to verify the genuine domicile of the wrestler and has sought clarifications from the concerned authorities, including MCD, the Haryana Government, and Regional Passport Office.

“In view of the above discrepancies, WFI is unable to ascertain the genuine domicile of the said wrestler, whether Delhi or Haryana,” the notice stated.

“His Aadhaar card is also from Haryana. We don’t know how MCD issued him a birth certificate. To get passport, you need to submit Aadhaar card and if his Aadhaar card is issued in Haryana why his passport is showing him a Delhi resident. We are investigating into it,” said a WFI official.

Pending verification, Sanjeev has been suspended from all wrestling-related activities under the purview of WFI with immediate effect, the federation said.

The notice, signed by WFI President Sanjay Kumar Singh, added that the suspension would remain in force until further notice.