Arrested in a murder case, double Olympic-medallist Sushil Kumar is set to be dropped from the Wrestling Federation of India`s annual contracts list along with Pooja Dhanda on account of non-performance when the body holds a review meeting next month. The meeting between the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and sponsors Tata Motors was to be held in 2020 but was put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. A WFI source said the decision to drop Sushil is purely based on performance and has nothing to do with his arrest for his alleged involvement in the murder of a fellow wrestler, Sagar Dhankad, at the Chhatrasal stadium.

"It is clear that Sushil and Pooja have not done anything notable since they were offered contracts. They will not make the cut when the review meeting is held next month," a WFI source told PTI. The WFI had taken a leaf out of BCCI`s book to offer central contracts to its players in 2019. About 150 wrestlers had got one-year contracts which are subject to review. Sushil was promoted to Rs 30 lakh Grade A contract after initially being placed in Grade B that gave the wrestlers an annual remuneration of Rs 20 lakh. Pooja was also placed in Grade A. Sushil could not win any medal in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and also bowed out of the 2019 World Championship with a close first-round defeat. He has not competed since then. The 2018 World Championship bronze-medallist Pooja too has lost her place in the 57kg category.