Singh spoke to Sportskeeda to explain why he was against the practice of having individual coaches for wrestlers.

He has also expressed his wish to extend the same responsibility to Indian coaches.

The Wrestling Federation of India president, however, added that exceptions could be made for individual cases, especially for big competitions like the Commonwealth and Asian Games next year.

In addition to this, he is also planning to recruit a team manager-cum consultants and a psychologist.

Wrestling Federation of India is yet to begin scouting for the available posts.

Is Wrestling Federation of India planning to retain the current foreign coaches?

For now, all the foreign coaches have returned home and are waiting for a final call on their contract. The Wrestling Federation of India has said it will talk to the concerned wrestlers before making any decision.

Singh, however, is not very keen on retaining the current batch of foreign coaches. He feels the wrestlers performance dipped due to irrational decisions by the coaches.

However, on the contrary both Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia were in the best form of their career under their respective foreign coaches.

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Vinesh under coach Woller Akos (Hungary) has won 13 medals since 2018, while Bajrang under Georgian coach Shako Bentinidis has won two World Championship medals, an Asian Games gold medal and an Olympic bronze.

Singh said he will talk to the wrestlers and take their opinions into consideration before making a decision.

The Wrestling Federation of India will decide on contracts after the world championships in October.

What is WFI’s plan for foreign coaches?

While the wrestling federation has brought in foreign coaches in the past, Singh said the process is tedious and long. He feels the Sports Authority of India (SAI) takes a lot of time to approve the appointments due to which they lose on high-profile trainers.

The Wrestling Federation of India has begun the scouting of new foreign coaches. WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar said they are in talks with two foreign coaches but are yet to finalize them.

However, given the current system, it is unlikely that it will be completed before 2022. Singh said they have asked SAI’s Standing Committee to shorten the duration of the process so that they can appoint coaches as soon as possible.

With the Wrestling Federation of India currently focused on the world championships in Oslo, Norway, it remains to be seen how the plan pans out. Furthermore, will the same coaches be ready to work as WFI envisions?

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