Newspunjab
24 May,2026
Indian wrestling has once again taken a major legal turn. Vinesh Phogat has been given a major relief by the Delhi High Court, allowing her to participate in the 2026 Asian Games selection trials to be held on May 30 and 31. A division bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyay and Justice Tejas Kariya has made strong comments, terming the selection policy of the Wrestling Federation of India as “biased” and “unfortunate”.
The court, in its 15-page order, said that the rules framed by the WFI appeared to be designed to exclude a particular player, especially a famous wrestler like Vinesh Phogat. According to the new rules, only those wrestlers who had won medals in the domestic competitions of 2025 and 2026 were considered eligible for the trials, while previous international performances were ignored.
The High Court also held that Vinesh Phogat’s maternity leave and subsequent health care clashed with these domestic competitions, due to which she could not participate. The court said that no woman can be harmed in her career or opportunities because of motherhood and the WFI’s policy in this matter is extremely restrictive.
The court also expressed displeasure over the show cause notice issued by the WFI on May 9, in which Vinesh was accused of indiscipline and violation of doping rules. Terming the remarks as “reprehensible” and “vindictive”, the court said that the Court of Arbitration for Sport has already quashed any wrongdoing against Vinesh in the Paris Olympics case.
