Vinesh Phogat: The Delhi High Court has reprimanded the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) for its decision to disqualify Indian female wrestler Vinesh Phogat. The court has said that motherhood is respected in the country and the departure from the old selection criteria of WFI says a lot. The High Court has directed the Central Government to form an expert committee for Vinesh and evaluate her and ensure her participation in the selection trials for the upcoming Asian Games. Vinesh is making a comeback after maternity break.
It is noteworthy that WFI had sent a ‘show cause notice’ to Vinesh, in which it had accused her of indiscipline and violation of anti-doping rules and sought answers to four questions. Along with this, WFI had banned Vinesh from participating in any domestic competition till June 26, 2026. Due to this decision of WFI, Vinesh could not participate in the National Open Ranking Tournament. Vinesh had approached WFI seeking permission for the trial, but her appeal was ignored.
WFI had rejected Vinesh’s appeal to participate in the trials for the National Open Ranking Tournament saying that disciplinary action was going on against her under WADA rule 5.6.1. According to the WFI, according to this rule, players returning from retirement are required to complete a notice of at least six months before playing in any tournament.
After this, Vinesh had filed an application in the court and appealed to participate in the trials for the Asian Games to be held on 30 and 31 May. Vinesh had requested the court to intervene in the matter after she was disqualified by the Wrestling Federation of India. However, in the first hearing of the case, the court had refused to issue any interim order. The court had said that it cannot issue any instructions without hearing the side of WFI.
