Delhi High Court allows Vinesh Phogat to participate in Asian Games selection

PT News New Delhi, May 23

The Delhi High Court has given its nod to the partic-ipation of celebrated grap-pler Vinesh Phogat in the upcoming trials for the Asian Games, saying the Wrestling Federation of India’s (WFI) selection pol-icy is exclusionary for the lack of discretion to con-sider an iconic player like her, who is returning from a maternity break. A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia ordered that the selection trials, to be held on May 30-31, shall be video-recorded by the WFI and an independent observer from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) each shall also remain present.

“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 said in its order passed on May 22 and uploaded on its website on Saturday. “The policy and the circular are clearly exclusionary in nature as it does not give any discretion to Respondent No.1 (WFI) to consider iconic players like the appellant in view of the sabbatical taken on account of her maternity leave,” it stated.