Gurugram: Wrestler and Congress legislator Vinesh Phogat returned to Haryana Tuesday morning without competing in the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Senior Open Ranking Tournament 2026 at Gonda, Uttar Pradesh, after the federation stood firm on a ban, citing a show-cause notice issued to her on anti-doping grounds.
Vinesh had arrived in Gonda on Monday for verification ahead of her scheduled bouts on Tuesday. When she reached the WFI training centre at 4 pm, it was shut. She tried calling WFI president Sanjay Singh on her phone in the presence of waiting journalists, but the line was busy. Asked by a reporter what the problem was, she said, “What difference does it make to these shameless people what problem anyone faces.”
She then left for Ayodhya, and by Tuesday morning had returned to Haryana.
Vinesh had registered for the tournament as far back as 27 April. On 9 May, three days before her scheduled bouts, the WFI issued her a show-cause notice on 15 counts, including an alleged anti-doping violation, and barred her from competing.
The notice stems from a complaint by the International Testing Agency (ITA), which flagged that Vinesh was not available at a specified address in Bengaluru on 18 December 2025, when a dope test was to be conducted.
Vinesh said on social media that she had responded to the ITA notice by 19 January, explaining that she was the incumbent Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Julana in Haryana, and that on 18 December she was travelling from Bengaluru to Chandigarh to attend the Winter Session of the Haryana Assembly, and had also recently become a mother and could not update her location in time.
The ITA, in its 4 May notice, classified this as Vinesh’s first “whereabouts failure” in the past 12 months.
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Singled out?
But this is just where the controversy deepens. Under the World Anti-Doping Agency system, a single whereabouts failure does not attract any ban. An athlete can only be sanctioned, with a maximum two-year suspension, after accumulating three whereabouts failures within a 12-month period. A first failure is only a warning, entered into the record.
Sharing an email by the ITA on her X on 11 May, Vinesh said, “I have been given written permission by the ITA to compete from 1 January 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 my verification, nor been allowed to use the training hall here. I don’t want any special privileges, I just want to compete on merit.”
Hours earlier, in a media statement issued by Vinesh on social media platform X, she said the WFI had misinterpreted the timelines of her sabbatical and return to competition. Phogat said she had official confirmation from the ITA—the agency hired by the international wrestling federation UWW—that she was deemed eligible to return to official training and competition from 1 January, 2026, not 26 June, 2026 as stated in WFI’s notice.
Maintaining that both the September 2024 whereabouts failure and the December 2025 missed test did not amount to anti-doping rule violations under the National Anti-Doping Rules, 2021, or the WADA Code, 2021, she said she had cooperated promptly with the relevant authorities in both instances.
On the WFI allegation that she had violated rules by competing in two weight categories at the 2024 Selection Trials at NIS Patiala, she said the Ad-Hoc Committee governing WFI at the time was fully aware of her participation and raised no objection. Phogat said she would file a detailed response with supporting evidence within the prescribed 14-day period and intended to represent India at the 2026 Asian Games and upcoming international events.
That WFI chose to bar Vinesh from competition on the basis of this first and only failure has prompted pointed questions in sporting circles about whether the federation is applying domestic rules selectively or acting beyond its mandate.
‘Watch, don’t participate’
WFI president Sanjay Singh on Tuesday told the media that Vinesh cannot participate in any competition at present, and that a committee would decide her case once satisfactory replies are received on all 15 points of the notice. He added that she was welcome to come and watch the competition as a wrestler, but participation was ruled out.
Former Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik, who had sat alongside Vinesh during the 2023 protests at Jantar Mantar, came out in support of Vinesh Phogat on Tuesday. In a video posted on social media platform Instagram, Malik said she had been receiving requests from media for her comments and was initially in a fix, because Vinesh is now an MLA from a political party, and Malik does not subscribe to any political ideology.
She chose to speak. “In countries across the globe, governments tweak rules so that women athletes can make a comeback after becoming mothers. But in our country, the WFI has been making all efforts to stop the comeback of Vinesh Phogat,” she said. Malik appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the sports minister to intervene and allow Vinesh to participate in trials.
The Gonda tournament carries a specific personal dimension for Vinesh. In a video released on 3 May, she had herself noted that Gonda is the home turf of former BJP parliamentarian Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, against whom she is one of six complainants in a sexual harassment case currently being heard in court. She had said then that competing in his stronghold would be difficult given her ongoing deposition. She later decided to participate anyway after registering on 27 April.
Over the weekend, Vinesh and Brij Bhushan exchanged barbs in verse on social media platform X. Vinesh wrote of being caught in turbulent waters, her character scrutinised, but of her resolve unbroken. Brij Bhushan responded with a couplet about fame being momentary and the branch one sits on being capable of breaking.
Vinesh had announced her return to competitive wrestling on 12 December, 2025, stating her intent to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
She had retired from the sport on 8 August 2024, a day after being disqualified from the Paris Olympics final for being 100 grams overweight, after winning three bouts in a single day, including a semifinal victory over a Cuban wrestler.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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