Rules cannot be bent for anyone,” declared Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Sanjay Singh on 11 May, dismissing Olympian Vinesh Phogat’s plea to compete in the Senior Open Ranking wrestling tournament in Gonda (10–12 May). The event was meant to mark Vinesh’s return to competitive wrestling after nearly two years. Instead, it reopened the bitter conflict between India’s most celebrated woman wrestler and the federation she once publicly challenged.

A Congress MLA in Haryana since 2024 and mother to 10-month-old Kridhav, Vinesh (31) arrived in Gonda, ready to compete. But the WFI refused to allow her participation, citing her suspension — till 26 June — and a pending show cause notice. A self-righteous Singh told the media that she must respond to the 15-page notice before the WFI would even consider lifting her suspension. Without that, there was no question of her participating in the three-day championship.

Singh insisted that Vinesh needed to serve a six-month notice before returning to competition. Going by the timeline, that period would be over on 12 June. The show cause notice reached Vinesh on 8 May, ten days after she completed her registration for the Gonda tournament.

Vinesh responded, “If you are indeed acting upon my communication dated 12 December 2025 [announcing her return to competitive wrestling] why did you wait five months to issue a notice and demand a response?” She also pointed out that she had completed her registration two days before the 30 April deadline.

In addition, she referred to a communication from the International Testing Authority (ITA) in Lausanne, Switzerland, stating her eligibility to compete again from 1 January 2026. She shared screenshots of the email (dated 3 July 2025) from Testing Officer Estelle Daloz, which read: ‘Indeed, my apologies for the........

© National Herald