NEW DELHI, MAY 22 — The Delhi High Court directed the Union government on Friday to organize a specialized committee of experts to oversee wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s return to competitive trials, cautioning the national wrestling federation against punitive administrative actions.
The order directly challenges a directive from the Wrestling Federation of India that had labeled the international grappler ineligible for domestic ranking tournaments. The high court observed that altering qualification circulars to exclude established athletes points toward systematic administrative bias.
“Ask the experts to evaluate her chances… Ensure that she participates,” the court stated to government legal representatives. The bench asserted that professional disputes between sportspersons and regulatory bodies must not interfere with the advancement of national sports.
Phogat’s legal team filed the appeal after a lower bench refused to secure her a spot in the selective qualifiers for the upcoming Asian Games. Her senior counsel maintained that a show-cause notice delivered right before a domestic event in Gonda demonstrated that the federation was searching for administrative pretexts to push the athlete out of contention.
The corporate defense maintained that the six-month stand-down period was a mandatory clause tied to global anti-doping protocols for returning competitors. However, the bench observed that because Phogat’s maternity period concluded in mid-2025, the sudden enforcement of restrictive eligibility gates appeared heavily directed at her specific timeline.
The developments follow a prolonged period of friction within the sport, including public demonstrations led by Phogat and other prominent female wrestlers in 2023 regarding harassment allegations against former federation leadership, as well as her recent disqualification at the Paris Olympics for missing weight limits.
