New Delhi: The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and Tata Motors, who became national sponsors of the sport in 2018, on Friday announced an extension of their partnership till the 2024 Olympics.
It was also announced that apart from the scholarships to 60 juniors, 30 talented wrestlers, to be identified by the WFI, will be adopted by Tata Motors.
All of their training expenses, exposure trips to foreign countries will be covered under the junior development program and will also be given assistance to manage injuries through physios.
The WFI will keep evaluating their performances.
The moderator, who conducted the virtual Q&A session, though dodged the question on financial aspect of the deal, saying it worked under a “well-defined” criteria.
WFI President Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, though, enthused by Tata Motors’ backing, urged the company to even support the wrestling league.
“The elite wrestlers always get support but we could take this support to the wrestlers in rural areas, from cream (of Indian wrestling) to villages and that is the contribution of Tata Motors,” Singh said.
“We have to take it from A (top) to Z (bottom). There were some other who came out to support but they only supported specific wrestlers but Tata have supported the game.
“I even want to say that they now handle the league also. Make it Tata Wrestling League now,” he said.
To this, Girish Wagh, the Executive Director & President Commercial Vehicle Business Unit of Tata Motors, said, “This partnership is evolving and we will evaluate the suggestion”.
The WFI boss said they will now be able to extend support to the state and district associations, who have to spend money from their own pocket to conduct regional tournaments.
A national training centre is also being planned where the wrestlers can train and get assistance to manage their injuries.
All seven Indian wrestlers, who competed at the Olympics, were handed car keys during the programme.
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