The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on September 22 issued a show-cause notice to Paris Olympics bronze medallist Aman Sehrawat who was 1.7 kg overweight on the morning of his bout at the World Championships 2025 in Zagreb, Croatia.
India had pinned their hopes on Sehrawat in the men's freestyle 57 kg but now he is in trouble, including the four coaches who could not manage his weight before the bout. The four coaches are chief coach Jagmander Singh, Vinod, Virender and Narender. The coaches have been asked to provide an explanation for the series of events that led to Sehrawat’s disqualification.
"This is not acceptable. We must find reasons behind it. In less than two months two of our good wrestlers got disqualified, we need to look into it, that's why we have issued a show cause notice to Aman," a WFI official said.
"There were 10 wrestler and four coaches. They should have kept track of this issue. They were there 15 days before competition. It was their responsibility as well. So they will also have to explain," the official added.
WFI’s experiment to improve weight management
In order to avoid such instances in major events, the WFI has decided to remove the weight toleration system from the selection trails on an experimental basis. Earlier, the wrestlers were given 2kg weight relaxation during selection trials.
"We have been advised by a few coaches that we must stop this practice. It becomes a habit and wrestlers struggle during the competition. So, for the upcoming U23 World Championship trials in Lucknow on October 4 and 5, all the wresters will have to give accurate weight,” the official said.
"We are experimenting, let's see what results we get."
This is being done to ensure there are no lapses in the upcoming World Under-23 World Championships in Serbia, starting October 20.
Will Sehrawat suffer Sangwan’s fate?
It is yet to be seen whether WFI takes a strict action against Sehrawat, similar to what Neha Sangwan faced after being overweight in Under-20 World Championship. After her disqualification, Sangwan was slapped with a two-year ban by the federation.