WFI challenges Delhi HC order allowing Vinesh Phogat to attend Asian Games trials

Vinesh Phogat vs Wrestling Federation of India has taken a new turn after the sports federation moved the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court’s order allowing the wrestler to participate in the 2026 Asian Games selection process. The WFI’s move escalates the federation’s legal battle with the star wrestler, who is attempting a comeback after a maternity break.

A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe is expected to hear the federation’s plea on Friday. Earlier, on May 22, a division bench of the Delhi High Court allowed Phogat to compete in the upcoming Asian Games trials, noting that the WFI’s selection policy was exclusionary and lacked discretion to accommodate the iconic athlete returning from maternity leave.

The High Court also ordered that the trials scheduled for May 30 and 31 be videotaped. He further ordered that independent observers from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) remain present during the trial.

The Sanjay Singh-led WFI had earlier declared Phogat ineligible for the trials after revising its selection criteria to state that only reigning national champions from the previous season could participate. The move came ahead of Phogat’s return to competitive wrestling after maternity leave.

In its order, the Delhi High Court came down hard on the federation, calling its actions against Phogat “vindictive” and “retrograde”.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia observed that Phogat was unable to satisfy the WFI’s “exclusionary” policy merely because she had taken maternity leave. The court said that motherhood cannot become a reason to marginalize sportswomen.

“It cannot be denied that the athlete’s journey through pregnancy and the postpartum period is marked by extraordinary physical challenges, the extent of which is often under-recognized within institutional sports frameworks,” the court said.

The bench also questioned the sports ministry and the central government that despite the nature of the federation’s negotiations, they did not intervene in the matter.

The court additionally took exception to the notice issued by the WFI to Phogat, which allegedly described her disqualification from the Paris Olympics for being overweight as a “national disgrace”. The bench said the remarks reflected mala fide intent and should have been avoided.

The verdict marked a significant relief for Phogat, who has remained at the center of Indian wrestling’s turmoil in recent years, from leading protests against former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to administrative and legal disputes over her return to competition.

With the WFI now moving the Supreme Court, the dispute has entered the next phase before the courts as part of the Asian Games later this week.

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Issued by:

Kingshuk Kusari

Published on:

28 May 2026 18:08 IST