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Asian champion Sunil Kumar, Under-23 Asian Championship gold winner Minakshi and several other Indian wrestlers gathered at Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya's residence on Saturday, seeking his intervention to secure approval for their participation in the upcoming Ranking Series in Albania.
The ministry has withheld approval for the wrestlers to participate in the second Ranking Series of the year scheduled to take place in Tirana, Albania, from February 26 to March 2.
"We are unable to participate in the tournament and hence we came to the minister's residence to request him to let us participate in the tournament," Kumar told PTI.
"It will help us in the Asian Championship in Amman in March (as points will decide) the draws and first round bouts," he added. However, the minister was travelling and unavailable. The gathered bunch of 8-10 wrestlers waited till about 2pm outside his residence before dispersing.
"Earlier, we were not allowed to participate in World Ranking Championship in Croatia, and now we are not allowed to go to Albania. We came here to request, we don't know the reason," Minakshi said.
"We are 30 wrestlers, there is no response. We came here and got to know that the minister is not here."
The ministry has cited the Wrestling Federation of India's (WFI) failure to submit the necessary recommendations on time as the reason for withholding the approval.
WFI had sent the proposal to the Sports Authority of India on January 30, almost a month before the start of the tournament, a WFI source had told PTI on Friday.
Due to the ongoing tussle between the ministry and the suspended WFI, the wrestlers had also missed the first Ranking Series in Zagreb, Croatia.
Although the WFI was suspended by the ministry in December 2023, it remains recognised by the international wrestling body (UWW).
The event will be followed by the Senior Asian Championships in Amman, Jordan, from March 25-30, the third Ranking Series in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, from May 29-June 1, and the fourth Ranking Series in Budapest, Hungary, from July 17-20.
Competing in Ranking Series is very important for Indian wrestlers. By doing well there, they earn points and that helps them get seedings at World Championship.
Last year, the government had cleared the Indian wrestling team's participation at for World Championships after all the 12 selected athletes assembled outside the residence of the sports minister.