Vinesh Phogat's Asian Games Trials Participation Sparks Legal Battle

Legal Challenge Over Selection Trials

New Delhi: The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has approached the Supreme Court to contest a ruling from the Delhi High Court that permits wrestler Vinesh Phogat to take part in the selection trials for the 2026 Asian Games.

A bench comprising Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe is set to review the Federation's appeal on Friday.

On May 22, a division bench of the high court approved Phogat's participation in the upcoming trials, criticizing the WFI's selection criteria as exclusionary, particularly for a prominent athlete like her returning from maternity leave.

The court mandated that the selection trials, scheduled for May 30-31, be recorded on video, with an independent observer from both the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) present.

The ruling stated that Phogat must be allowed to compete in the trials, emphasizing that the selection standards represent a significant shift from previous practices that allowed discretion for selecting iconic athletes.

The court asserted that motherhood should not be a reason to exclude female competitors like Phogat.

It further noted that the WFI's rationale for Phogat's disqualification from the 2024 Paris Olympics appeared to be premeditated and unjust, necessitating her participation in the trials for the sake of fairness and the sport.

The high court criticized the WFI for labeling Phogat's Olympic disqualification as a national embarrassment, calling such remarks inappropriate and misguided.

The court highlighted that Phogat's exclusion stemmed from her temporary retirement and sabbatical.

This decision followed her appeal against a May 18 ruling from a single-judge bench that denied her immediate relief regarding her participation in the trials.

The division bench also instructed the two independent observers from SAI and IOA, appointed by the government, to provide a report to the single-judge bench.

In her high court petition, Phogat challenged the WFI's selection policy, which restricts eligibility for the Asian Games trials to medalists from specific tournaments.

She argued that the qualification timeline set by the WFI coincided with her maternity leave, creating an arbitrary and discriminatory barrier.

Earlier this month, the WFI declared Phogat ineligible for domestic competitions until June 26, citing a mandatory six-month notice for athletes returning from retirement due to anti-doping regulations.

Despite this, Phogat defiantly participated in the National Open Ranking Tournament in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh.

Phogat was also involved in a protest by female wrestlers in 2023 against alleged sexual misconduct by the former WFI president and BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

In August 2024, she faced disqualification from the Olympic finals in the 50-kg category for being slightly overweight during the morning weigh-in.