New Delhi : Former chief national wrestling coach Vinod Kumar will be filing a petition in the Delhi High Court today against the Dronacharya Award selection committee for ignoring him for the prestigious honour. The Dronacharya Award selection committee had on Friday recommended Anoop Singh Dahiya’s name for this award.
“I already went to the court today and will be filing a petition against the decision of the committee tomorrow at the Delhi High court,” Vinod Kumar told PTI. The award ceremony will take place on August 29 at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Vinod, who was the chief national men’s team coach from November 2010 to April 2015, claimed that he had earned more points for his achievements of his wards at the international tournaments than Anoop.
“I have approximately 420 points but the committee recommended Anoop’s name despite him having less points (around 375) than me. “This is not fair. My name should have recommended by the committee on the basis of the points I have got. I had the highest points amongst all the nominees. I have better qualification for getting the award. Therefore, I have decided to approach the court,” Vinod, who was conferred with Dhyan Chand award in 2012, said.
Asked what has gone wrong, the ex-coach said, “I have learnt that my name was dropped because the committee had argued that I had got the Dhyan Chand award. But I don’t understand what has Dhyan Chand award got to do with the Dronacharya award. There are so many recipients who have earlier got both Arjuna as well as Dronacharya awards. This is nothing but a goof up by the committee members.”
Dhyan Chand award is given to those athletes who miss out on the Arjuna award, while Dronacharya is awarded to the coaches whose wards have done well for the country. “My name was recommended by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and London Olympic bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt. I am the most deserving candidate this year,” informed Vinod.
The WFI had sacked Vinod as the chief national coach after his performance as mentor was found to be inadequate during the Doha Asian Championship. He had apparently also failed to lodge protest with the tournament’s technical judges against some poor umpiring, which cost Indian wrestlers medals.
