Gonda11 May. Olympian Vinesh Phogat, who is again ready for a head-to-head fight against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), on Monday rejected the ban imposed by the federation and said that she will not retire and will participate in the National Open Ranking Tournament.
Despite the ban, the selection trials reached the venue
Despite the WFI ban, Vinesh, who reached the venue of the selection trials for the Asian Games 2026 starting here from today, told reporters that she has responded to the show cause notice of the WFI and is eligible to return from retirement. The federation said that she cannot participate in the tournament until the disciplinary action against her is completed.
The national federation had earlier said that Vinesh cannot participate in domestic tournaments till June 26, 2026 as she has not completed the mandatory notice period of six months after coming out of retirement under anti-doping rules. Vinesh told reporters after meeting WFI officials, ‘What do you want from me? Should I take sannyasa and go beyond? I should accept defeat, so that their conspiracy against me succeeds.
‘I had already informed UWW about my decision to return after retirement in June last year.’
Earlier, after reaching Ayodhya airport, Vinesh responded to the show cause notice of WFI. She claimed that Rule 5.6.1 of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code related to retired athletes does not apply to her as she had already informed United World Wrestling (UWW) in June about her decision to return after retirement.
I have been given written permission by the ITA to compete from 1 Jan, 2026, I was allowed to register for the 2026 Senior Open Ranking Tournament at Nandini Nagar, Gonda on the 28th of April, 2026. I came to Gonda today to participate but I have neither been allowed to complete… pic.twitter.com/xq6gmQ8nmF
— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) May 11, 2026
According to UWW rules, a player returning from retirement is required to inform it at least six months in advance and will also have to be available for Tests during this period. Vinesh said in her reply that she had already informed UWW about her return, hence she had completed the procedural requirements.
‘WFI also last year 12 I have informed about my return in December.‘
She said that she had already informed WFI on December 12 last year that she wanted to return. He said, ‘Show me the reason why six months were waited to give notice and that too two days before the tournament.’ She has given a short reply and will give a full reply within 14 days.
The federation said – Phogat cannot participate in the competition until the disciplinary action is completed.
However, WFI sources said that the federation is not satisfied with her reply and believes that Vinesh has replied only on the aspect of eligibility whereas she has not been able to reply to the allegations of indiscipline leveled against her.
A source in the federation said, ‘His answer is not complete. He has not responded to the show cause notice in full. She may not participate until disciplinary proceedings are completed. We will not stop them from coming here, but they will have to wait until we get complete clarification on every issue.
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