New Delhi, 29 May

The Supreme Court on Friday permitted wrestler Vinesh Phogat to participate in the selection trials to be held on 30 and 31 May for the Asian Games 2026. A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe passed the order while hearing a plea filed by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) challenging the Delhi High Court order allowing Phogat to participate in the selection trials.

"Today at this stage, the high court having passed the order, the hope and expectations have risen. To tell her to go back home and we can't do anything, will not be proper. We are very bold in telling you this," the bench told the counsel appearing for the WFI.

The top court said, "The respondent (Phogat) shall be permitted to participate in the selection trials for the Asian Games 2026 which are scheduled on May 30, 2026 and May 31, 2026". However, the bench said it was concerned about the method and manner in which the HC dealt with the matter.

"We are not stopping. You (Phogat) go ahead and participate," the bench observed. It posted the plea for hearing next week.

On 22 May, a division bench of the Delhi HC had given its nod to the participation of Phogat in the upcoming trials for the Asian Games, saying the WFI's selection policy was exclusionary for the lack of discretion to consider an iconic player like her, who is returning from a maternity break. The HC had ordered that the selection trials 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 high court had said the standard for the selection trials marks significant deviation from the past practice, which provided for discretion for the selection of iconic players for the Asian Games, and added that the law must ensure that motherhood does not become a ground to exclude female athletes like Phogat.

Motherhood, it had asserted, cannot be treated as a professional impediment or a circumstance warranting adverse treatment. The HC further observed that grounds taken by the WFI in the 9 Ma show-cause notice to Phogat "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".

It had also taken exception to the WFI terming Phogat's disqualification in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games "national embarrassment" in the show-cause notice, stating that such a statement was "deplorable", "ex-facie misconceived" and "ought to have been avoided". It observed that Phogat's exclusion from the selection trials was directly attributable to her "sabbatical and temporary retirement".

It had passed the order on Phogat's appeal against a May 18 order of a single-judge bench which had denied her immediate relief on the issue of her participation in the selection trials. The division bench of the high court had further asked the two independent observers from the SAI and the IOA, to be nominated by the Centre, to submit a report before the single-judge bench.

In her petition before the high court, Phogat has challenged the WFI's selection policy and circular, which have limited eligibility for participation in the Asian Games trials only to the medal winners of certain tournaments.

Phogat has asserted that the "qualification window" chosen by the WFI substantially overlapped with her notified sabbatical on account of pregnancy and post-partum recovery, which created a "closed and inflexible gate-keeping mechanism" that was arbitrary and discriminatory.

Earlier this month, the WFI had declared Phogat ineligible to participate in domestic events till 26 June, citing the mandatory six-month notice period linked to athletes returning from retirement under anti-doping rules. A defiant Phogat, however, showed up at the National Open RankingTournament in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda.

Phogat had participated in a protest staged by women wrestlers in 2023 against alleged sexual harassment by the then WFI president and BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. In August 2024, Phogat was disqualified from the 50-kg category Olympic finals for being 100 gm overweight in the morning weigh-in.