More than 500 wrestlers were disqualified from the U-17 National Open Ranking Tournament in Gonda after the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) rolled out a stringent Aadhaar-based verification system to crack down on age fraud. The tournament, held from June 6 to 8 in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district, had around 1,200 registrations across men’s freestyle, Greco Roman and women’s categories, but the enhanced checks exposed widespread discrepancies in age and birth records.
The move matters for age-group wrestling because eligibility is central to fair competition, and WFI has signalled it will now apply the same scrutiny across upcoming U-15, U-17 and U-20 events.
Aadhaar-linked OTP checks trigger mass disqualifications
WFI’s verification process went beyond the usual reliance on birth certificates. Along with mandatory birth certificates for age verification, wrestlers were asked to produce Aadhaar cards linked to their mobile numbers and complete OTP authentication through the Aadhaar app. The app maintains a record of changes made to the document, which WFI used as part of its scrutiny.
The exercise resulted in the disqualification of nearly 500 wrestlers after inconsistencies surfaced between details on birth certificates and Aadhaar records. The breakdown of disqualifications included around 300 in men’s freestyle, 125 in Greco Roman and about 50 in women’s wrestling.
WFI officials found that in several cases the place of birth and date of birth recorded in Aadhaar did not match the information shown on birth certificates. The federation also noted that many of the birth certificates presented had been issued years after the wrestler’s birth, adding to the concerns raised during the checks.
One example highlighted during the verification involved a wrestler who produced a birth certificate listing a date of birth in 2007 and place of birth as Delhi’s Narela area, while Aadhaar records indicated a birth in Haryana in 2004. The discrepancy prompted the WFI to seek clarification from the hospital that had issued the birth certificate.
After the verification process, WFI cleared a reduced pool of athletes to compete: 350 wrestlers in men’s freestyle, 185 women wrestlers and 160 Greco Roman wrestlers.
The scale of the disqualifications underlines how aggressively the federation is now using Aadhaar-linked authentication to identify mismatches in identity and age documentation, particularly in age-group competitions where eligibility is strictly defined.
WFI to extend protocol to upcoming U-17 trials and future age-group events
WFI president Sanjay Singh said the federation is committed to ensuring a level playing field and will continue with the enhanced verification mechanism in age-group competitions.
“We are determined to eradicate age fraud from wrestling. Genuine athletes suffer when overage competitors participate in age-group events. The Aadhaar verification process has helped us identify discrepancies and we will continue to implement it strictly in all future U-15, U-17 and U-20 competitions,” Singh said.
The federation’s stance follows other recent action, with WFI having suspended five wrestlers after detecting fake birth certificates during scrutiny of documents. WFI has presented this as part of a broader resolve to tackle manipulation of age records.
WFI officials also said the same verification protocol will be enforced at upcoming age-group events, including the U-17 World Championship women’s trials in Sonepat on June 14 and the men’s trials in Lucknow on June 15.
With the Gonda tournament serving as the first major test of the Aadhaar-based system at this scale, WFI’s decision to carry the protocol into trials and future competitions signals a tougher compliance environment for athletes and support staff involved in age-group wrestling.
