Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia very artfully permitted wrestler Vinesh Phogat to take part in the Asian Games selection trials in New Delhi on May 30 and 31 while leaving it to Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav, hearing the wrestler’s Writ Petition, to examine the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) selection policy and its circular on merits.
On May 18, Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav had directed WFI to take the show cause notice issued to Vinesh Phogat on May 9 to its logical conclusion before July 6 the next date of hearing of her Writ against the WFI decision to issue her a show cause notice and decide that she was eligible to compete only from June 26.
A reading of the May 22 Judgment suggests that Vinesh Phogat wrote to the ITA in December 2024 that she would be on a sabbatical until August 2025 as she was pregnant with her first child. And before she gave birth in July, she wrote to ITA on June 30 last indicating that her sabbatical had ended. ITA wrote back to her saying that she was eligible to compete from January 1, 2026.
The Judgement indicates that the wrestler wrote to the Sports Authority of India, the UWW and the Target Olympic Podium on December 12 last seeking their support as she had resumed training. It is possible that she WFI was unaware of her communications with ITA and has taken December 12, 2025, as the date of her announcement to return to sport.
A lot of angst could have been avoided if WFI had communicated to Vinesh Phogat in December itself that, in its opinion, she could not take part in any competition until June 2026. It is likely that she would have produced evidence of her communication with ITA and the two warring parties could have arrived at an agreement amicably.
Given a history of celebrated wrestlers not making weight in major competitions, WFI could have approached the subject more sensitively. Besides, given that even the Indian Olympic Association had joined Vinesh Phogat’s appeal before CAS as an Interested Party and offered her steadfast support, it made no sense for the WFI leadership to reopen closed wounds now.
In dismissing Vinesh Phogat’s appeal against her being declared ineligible after not making weight ahead of the final and in seeking the award of a silver medal, Sole Arbitrator Dr. Annabelle Bennett Court of Arbitration for Sport order of the August 7, 2024, observed that there was no suggestion of wrong doing on her part.
In any case, the wrestler’s version of what transpired is documented of the CAS order. Vinesh Phogat told CAS that she fought three difficult bouts on August 6 and needed to eat and drink for her health; and that the distance from the venue to the Games Village left her with little time for the process of losing weight ahead of the August 7 final.
If WFI wanted to ask her about Paris 2024 and try to pin responsibility for not making weight on her (and her coach), the time was long gone. By raking it up so many moons later, it has fueled the impression that its decision to issue her a show cause notice and render her ineligible to compete until June 26, 2026, is rooted in vendetta.
Besides, a National Sports Federation’s role in anti-doping matters is limited to educating athletes on the adverse effects of injesting prohibited substances and in implementing the sanctions imposed by Anti-Doping Organisations. If International Testing Agency and National Anti-Doping Agency have no issues, WFI should not be venturing into territory that is not its domain.
As for the fourth charge in the show cause notice, the question has to be directed at those who allowed the wrestler to compete in two weight categories in one day rather than to Vinesh Phogat herself. It is one thing for a competitor to ask to compete in two weight categories and altogether another for the custodians of the sport to have allowed a violation of the rules of the sport.
WFI and Vinesh Phogat both will have to realise that they cannot mutually exclude one another. The more peacefully and the sooner they choose to shed the confrontational approach the better it will be for them and the sport at large. Laced with suspicion, squaring up only gives rise to an uneasiness and causes the conflicting positions to acquire a sense of uncomfortable permanence.
