New Delhi, The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has barred an under-17 wrestler from competing in the National Championships in Sambhaji Nagar after her father produced two birth certificates from different states, exposing glaring gaps in document verification.
The wrestler, who sought to participate in the women's 57kg category for Madhya Pradesh, was stopped during scrutiny after officials found discrepancies in her birth records.
According to documents accessed by PTI, one birth certificate issued by authorities in Madhya Pradesh lists the date of birth as August 26, 2010, but shows the date of registration and issue as November 16, 2021: more than a decade after the birth.
The certificate mentions a Sheopur district address and was generated through a gram panchayat office.
When questioned about the delayed registration, the father produced another birth certificate from Rajasthan, according to a WFI source.
That document, also seen by PTI, records the same date of birth August 26, 2010 but shows registration dating back to September 1, 2010, in Sriganganagar, Rajasthan, with the place of birth listed as a private nursing home there.
However, this certificate itself was issued much later, in April 2025.
The WFI officials refused entry, questioning how a second certificate could be issued by another state without robust cross-verification of original records.
The federation also pointed to a broader pattern it has flagged in recent months, where several wrestlers from Haryana were allegedly found to have procured birth certificates from Delhi's Rohini and Narela districts.
The WFI has urged stronger coordination between states and stricter verification mechanisms at the point of document issuance.
