Starting a new controversy with the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), Vinesh Phogat on Monday defied the ban imposed by the federation and said that she will not retire and will participate in the National Open Ranking Tournament. She told reporters that she had responded to the show cause notice of the WFI and was eligible to return from retirement. The wrestling 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 six-month notice after coming out of retirement under anti-doping rules. After meeting the WFI officials, Vinesh said, ‘What do you want from me? Should I take sannyasa and go beyond? I should accept defeat. So that their conspiracy against me succeeds.
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responded to the show cause notice
After reaching Ayodhya airport, Vinesh Phogat responded to the show cause notice of WFI. He claimed that Rule 5 of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code related to retired players. 6. 1 does not apply to her as she already informed United World Wrestling (UWW) in June about her decision to return from retirement.
According to UWW rules, a player returning from retirement is required to inform the UWW 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 fulfilled the procedural requirements.
reported to return
She said that she had already informed WFI on December 12 that she wanted to return. He said, ‘Show me the reason why there was a wait of six months to give the notice and that too two days before the tournament.’ She has given a short reply and will give a full reply within 14 days. WFI sources, however, said that the federation is not satisfied with her reply and believes that Vinesh has responded only on the eligibility aspect while not being able to respond to the allegations of indiscipline leveled against her.
Allegation of violation of anti-doping procedure
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. The controversy started when WFI issued a scathing show cause notice to Vinesh accusing her of indiscipline, breaking federation rules and violating anti-doping procedures.
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WFI trying to stop withdrawal
Earlier Vinesh had claimed that the federation was trying to stop her return. The federation also said that a wrong impression is being spread that the selection criteria in the National Open Ranking Tournament have been changed to prevent Vinesh from participating. Vinesh had retired from wrestling after being disqualified from the gold medal contest in the women’s 50 kg category at the Paris Olympics 2024.
Vinesh’s husband Sombir Rathi said that she never officially announced her retirement and only posted on social media. Whereas WFI says that in December 2024, it has been said in the letter of WFI that it had informed the International Testing Agency (ITA) about this.
The federation has sought clarification from him on four major charges which include being disqualified from the 2024 Paris Olympics, allegedly failing to disclose his whereabouts under anti-doping rules and participating in two weight categories in the trials conducted by the then ad-hoc committee appointed by the IOA in March 2024. Women wrestlers will be weighed in on Monday between 5 and 7 p.m., and the competition is on Tuesday.
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