Overview
- Vinesh Phogat reached the Gonda ranking event on Monday and said she is eligible to wrestle, but WFI officials said her initial reply to a show-cause notice was not enough and she cannot compete until a hearing is held.
- WFI had on Saturday issued a 15-page show-cause notice and declared her ineligible for domestic events until June 26, 2026, halting her planned return at the National Open Ranking Tournament.
- The notice cites United World Wrestling rules that require a six-month advance notice and testing period for athletes returning from retirement, and it references an ITA-recorded missed test on December 18, 2025 and an earlier NADA whereabouts issue in September 2024.
- Phogat disputes the federation’s timeline and says she has ITA or UWW confirmation she could return from January 1, 2026, while WFI also presses separate charges tied to the Paris 2024 weigh-in failure and her competing in two weight classes during March 2024 trials.
- She has 14 days to file a full written reply and can seek a personal hearing, a process unfolding against the backdrop of long-running rifts in Indian wrestling that include her past protests against former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.