Nandini Nagar (Gonda): Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Sanjay Singh said on Tuesday that Vinesh Phogat’s participation in its events will have to wait until the federation receives her reply to its show-cause notice and a committee deliberates and decides on the response.
His comments came a day after the two-time World Championships medallist arrived at the venue of the Senior Open National Ranking Tournament and slammed WFI for not allowing her to participate in the first comeback event since retirement following the 2024 Paris Olympics disqualification after failing to make the weight ahead of the final.
“Once Vinesh gives her reply to our show-cause notice, a WFI committee will be formed and it will decide on the matter,” Singh said. “As of now she is not eligible to compete in any WFI event, so she can’t participate in the Asian Games trials on May 30.”
“Once the WFI committee decides on her reply and she is eligible to compete (Phogat needs to first compete in a domestic event to achieve qualification for the trials), she can take the trials for the world championships.”
Phogat was barred from taking part in the Gonda meet, which would have been her first event for almost two years. The 2018 Asian Games champion had argued that WFI could have allowed her to compete while she prepared the reply to the show-cause notice. There was also a question why WFI had waited so long to act against Phogat.
Sanjay Singh said WFI could have issued the notice only after she made her comeback. “Only when she came out of retirement and made it clear she wants to compete could the federation take action. How can I serve notice on someone who has retired?”
Phogat left the venue on Monday night while the women’s competition started on Tuesday.
The WFI issued a 15-page notice on Saturday asking the 31-year-old wrestler to respond why action should not taken against her for various rule violations and indiscipline. It includes her inability to make the weight at the Paris Olympics, which cost India at least a silver medal and embarrassment. Her participation in two weight divisions at the selection trials for the Olympics was against the rules of the world body, UWW. The notice also wanted her to explain “anti-doping infringements” like a missed test of International Testing Agency (ITA), a whereabouts failure notice issued by the National Anti-doping Agency, and not filing UWW’s whereabouts requirement in the RTP (registered testing protocol).
Phogat, in a media statement, said that she has been cleared by ITA and denied any anti-doping rule violation.
Sakshi backs Phogat
The 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, a fellow protester with Phogat alleging sexual harassment by former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, came out in support of the latter. “I have been asked for my views and I was contemplating for the last two-three days as Vinesh is an MLA from a political party and I have nothing to do with any political outfit. (But) I can give you plenty of examples of countries relaxing norms for their athletes, so that women can continue to play and win medals for the country even after becoming mothers,” she said in a video statement on social media.
“But our federation has come up with rules to stop Vinesh from making a comeback. I would request the Prime Minister, the Sports Minister and the WFI to take Vinesh’s trial so that she can also win medals for the country and be an example for women by winning medals after becoming a mother.”
Phogat, who was bidding to compete in the 57kg division, said during her trip to Gonda on Monday that she would continue her fight against WFI. “I am not going to retire as I will continue my fight against the wrongdoings of the WFI,” she said after a 10-minute meeting with Singh at the makeshift WFI office here.
Deepak blames protest
Asian Games silver medallist, Deepak Punia, has blamed the months-long protest at Jantar Mantar in 2023 led by Phogat and Malik for disrupting the training of fellow wrestlers. “After 2023, many tournaments stopped because of the protest and all that happened. We did not get chances to compete abroad like we used to earlier,” he told PTI in Gonda. “When you are competing internationally every second or third month, your shortcomings come out and you improve. But if you get only one World Championships or one Asian Championships in a year, there is a huge difference in performance,” he said.
The protests followed a suspension of WFI by the sports ministry with an interim body handed the administration. When told that he too was at the protest spot, Punia said: “I would not like to dwell on those things now. Let it be.”
(With inputs from PTI)
