Vinesh Phogat defies WFI, arrives in Gonda for National Open Ranking Tournament claiming she’s eligible to compete

Despite being barred by the Wrestling Federation of India recently, three-time Olympian Vinesh Phogat arrived in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda for the National Open Ranking Tournament to make her long-awaited comeback from retirement, insisting she is eligible to compete.

Wrestler-turned-Congress MLA Vinesh had reversed her retirement from the sport on 12 December setting her sights on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and announcing her return to the mat at the National Open Ranking Tournament, which is taking place from 10 to 12 May where she was to compete in the higher weight category of 57kg.

The WFI, meanwhile, had issued a 15-page show-cause notice to Vinesh on Saturday over anti-doping and disciplinary violations. The federation had also declared the 31-year-old ineligible to compete in any tournament until 26 June, citing a mandatory six-month notice period for athletes coming out of retirement under anti-doping rules.

'WFI has misinterpreted the timelines of my sabbatical'

Vinesh replied to the WFI's show-cause notice by insisting that Rule 5.6.1 of the World Anti-Doping Agency Code on retired athletes does not apply in her case, claiming she had already informed United World Wrestling about coming out of retirement last June and thus had fulfilled procedural requirements to compete in May.

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The WFI, however, was not satisfied with her reply, claiming that the two-the World Championships bronze medallist had not answered some of the broader anti-doping and disciplinary charges in the show-cause notice, which included her disqualification from the 2024 Paris Olympics final for being slightly overweight.

"The reply is not enough. She has not answered the full show-cause notice. Until a disciplinary hearing is conducted and the matter is decided, she cannot be permitted to compete," a WFI source was quoted by news agency Press Trust of India as saying.

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In a separate statement posted on social media, Vinesh acknowledged receipt of WFI's show-cause notice and stated that she would be providing detailed responses to each claim after consulting her legal team and advisors.

"The WFI has misinterpreted the timelines of my sabbatical from sport and subsequent return to training and competitions. As opposed to the date stated by the WFI in their notice, i.e., June 26, 2026, I have been deemed eligible to return to official training and competition on January 1, 2026. I have official confirmation from the International Testing Agency (ITA) the agency hired by the international federation UWW. the relevant international federation governing doping control for wrestling, pertaining to the same," Vinesh said in the statement posted on X.

"Therefore, I am eligible to participate in the 2026 Senior Open Ranking Tournament at Nandini Nagar, Gonda scheduled for May 10-12, 2026. Having completed my registration for the same, I do intend to participate in the Tournament and mark my return to the mat in a competitive event," she continued.

Vinesh replies to whereabouts failures, competing in separate weight classes

Vinesh also provided clarifications on other charges such as missing a doping test on two different occasions, including in December last year shortly after reversing her retirement, and competing in separate weight categories at the 2024 selection trials for the Paris Olympics.

"With respect to the whereabouts failure from September 2024, and the Missed Test from December 2025, I confirm that I have co-operated with the relevant result management authorities promptly, and that both events do not amount to anti-doping rule violations per the National Anti-Doping Rules, 2021 or the WADA Code, 2021.

"The allegation that I violated various rules by participating in two separate weight categories at the 2024 Selection Trials at NIS Patiala is also false, as the Ad-Hoc Committee governing the WFI at that point of time was well aware of my participation and made no objection at such stage while

allowing me to participate," she continued.

Vinesh, who had successfully contested in the 2024 Haryana Elections  assembly, had earlier expressed concern over competing in Gonda, which is the stronghold of former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, in a clip posted on social media.

In the same clip, she had also revealed herself as one of six female wrestlers allegedly sexually harassed by the influential Bharatiya Janata Party politician.

Vinesh was one of the leading figures in the 2023 Wrestlers Protest, in which some of the country's leading grapplers staged a sit-in agitation in New Delhi accusing Brij Bhushan of sexual harassment and demanding his arrest. Two separated cases have been filed against the 69-year-old politician since then, with one of them still active.