Supreme Court rejects WFI’s petition, allows Vinesh Phogat to participate in Asian Games selection trials

New Delhi, 29 May. The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), which approached the Supreme Court against Olympian wrestler Vinesh Phogat, was disappointed there too, when the apex court on Friday allowed the two-time world medalist wrestler to participate in the selection trials proposed on May 30 and 31 for the Asian Games 2026.

Wrestling federation had challenged the order of the High Court

The Supreme Court bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aaradhe was hearing the petition of WFI. In this, the order of the Delhi High Court was challenged, in which Vinesh Phogat was given permission to participate in the trial. The top court told the lawyer appearing for WFI, ‘The High Court has given the order, due to which hopes and expectations have increased. Now sending her (Vinesh) back home saying that we cannot do anything will not be right.

The apex court rejected the arguments of WFI’s lawyer

During the hearing, the federation’s lawyer said that the Asian Games Authority has told that the names of the potential players should reach them by May 14, which is the deadline and they cannot send any other names. The lawyer stressed that this is an international organization and does not have the jurisdiction of our court. However, the Supreme Court kept aside this argument of the federation and allowed Phogat to participate in the selection trials for the Asian Games.

Expressed displeasure over Vinesh not participating in doping test

At present, the Supreme Court expressed displeasure over Vinesh not appearing in the doping test. The bench also said that Phogat had missed the doping test last January, and the International Testing Agency (ITA) had not accepted her explanation that she had to go to the Assembly as an MLA in Haryana.

The court told Phogat – you are a great athlete, But country first’

Justice Narasimha acknowledged his achievements at the international level, but added that international rules must be followed. The court told Vinesh Phogat, ‘You are a brilliant athlete, but the country first.’ The Supreme Court said, ‘If there was someone else, the matter would have been different. But he has made the country proud.

However, the top court expressed deep concern over the manner and methodology of investigating the case. It said that easy and quick intervention of courts in such cases is a problem. Justice Narasimha commented orally during the hearing, ‘This is not admission to the medical college. These are national and international sports competitions. It should not happen that the court interferes in such matters and disrupts the entire program.

Delhi High Court had strongly reprimanded the wrestling federation.

It is noteworthy that earlier the Delhi High Court had given permission to wrestler Vinesh Phogat to participate in the selection trials organized for the Asian Games to be held in Japan this year. During this time, the court had sharply criticized the Indian Wrestling Federation, saying that the federation’s attitude against Phogat appears to be ‘motivated by revenge’ and its statements reflect ‘backward thinking’.

Vinesh Phogat was left out of the selection process this year due to the new eligibility criteria set by the WFI. This policy was different from the previous arrangement of the federation. Apart from this, on May 9, WFI had also issued a show cause notice to him, under which he was barred from participating in any WFI event till June 26.

Vinesh had earlier WFI President Brij Bhushan Sharan was accused of sexual harassment

It is noteworthy that on May 3, Vinesh Phogat had said that she was among the six female wrestlers who had accused former WFI President and former MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment.