THE DELHI HIGH COURT has allowed Vinesh Phogat, a wrestler of international repute, to participate in the selection trials for the 2026 Asian Games, scheduled to be held on May 30 and 31, while severely criticising the Wrestling Federation of India for acting in a vindictive manner against her.
A Bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia further observed that the grounds taken in the show-cause notice issued by WFI to the celebrated wrestler “appear to be pre-mediated and reopening the closed issues” and that “it is necessary that the appellant is permitted to participate in the selection trials in the interest of the sport and justice”.
“The appellant shall be permitted to participate in the selection trials for the Asian Games, 2026, which are scheduled for 30.05.2026 and 31.05.2026,” the court stated in its order passed on May 22 and uploaded on its website on Saturday.
The Bench further directed that the trials be video-recorded and ordered the nomination of two independent observers from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to oversee the process.
While passing its orders, the Bench stated that WFI’s selection policy is “exclusionary for the lack of discretion to consider an iconic player like her, who is returning from a maternity break”.
“The policy and the circular are clearly exclusionary in nature as it does not give any discretion to Respondent number 1 (WFI) to consider iconic players like the appellant in view of the sabbatical taken on account of her maternity leave,” it stated.
The High Court passed the order on Phogat’s appeal against a May 18 order of a single-judge bench, refusing her immediate relief on the issue of her participation in the selection trials.
