The guttural grunts of wrestlers and the sudden drumbeat of rain on Delhi’s rooftops were drowned out by the reverberating roars inside the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium on Saturday, May 30. Vinesh Phogat, one of India’s greatest-ever wrestlers, had returned to the mat in a bid to qualify for the 2026 Asian Games.
The wrestling community, particularly from Haryana, had turned up in large numbers to support her. While the cheers overwhelmed every other sound in the arena, they could not clear the toxic air that hung over the venue throughout the day.
Vinesh’s history with the Wrestling Federation of India is well known, and no one expected the WFI to roll out the red carpet when Vinesh decided to make her comeback this year, after skipping all competitions since Paris Olympics 2024.
But how would one know that in a country ambitious enough to bring the Olympic Games, would put up so many barriers on her return, so much so that the High Court itself will call out the association for being ‘vindictive’.
The Phogat vs WFI saga was murky enough for the High Court and then the Supreme Court to enter it. The federation was directed to let Vinesh participate in the category of her choosing.
VINESH’S RETURN BEGINS WITH A FIGHT
But no. Not for the WFI. One of the most powerful sporting federations in the country decided that it would challenge the wrestler even before she got on the mat.
A day before the trial, the WFI put out a circular, stating that Vinesh would have to fight in the 50kg category, as the legend participated in Paris in that same class.
For someone who originally tried to make her entry into the 57kg fold, brushing off seven kilograms without any notice would be impossible.
When Vinesh Phogat arrived on Saturday morning at 6:30 am, the guards refused to let her enter the stadium. A verbal fight took place early in the morning itself, with Vinesh explaining that she had to be there for the weigh-in at 7 am.
Vinesh later told reporters that her weigh-in did not take place at 7 am. They waited for the WFI to call them. Once that call came at 8:30, Vinesh made her weight in the 53kg category, not in 50.
It was an unexpected turn of events for the media, who had been dreading the worst for the three-time Olympian.
Vinesh’s camp later revealed that it was just a scare tactic from the WFI’s part and that they were unmoved by it. On Saturday, the athlete had carried her own weighing scales, food, water, towels and supplements, not leaving anything to chance.
VINESH PHOGAT vs THE ARENA
The struggle did not end there. A weird partition of the room had taken place at the KD Jadhav Stadium.
On one side of the mat stood the Vinesh fans, the staff or any member with sympathy towards the athlete. On the other side of the mat was the Sanjay Singh-led WFI, and his army of muscular men, who had been ready to sit and stand up on his command throughout the day.
Every time Vinesh got into a difficult position, they cheered loudly. This irked the Vinesh camp and they made the whole arena reverberate with their cries.
And when an atmosphere like this is allowed to foster, it often boils over.
COMEBACK TURNS INTO A CONFRONTATION
The moment arrived in Vinesh’s quarter-final bout against Nishu.
Trailing 0-5, and desperate to win the bout, Vinesh went for a crucial pinfall. She looked poised to end the match. However, the referee intervened, halting the action to award Vinesh four points instead of allowing her to complete the pin.
The decision immediately triggered outrage from Vinesh’s corner. Vinesh’s husband, Somvir Rathee, stepped directly into the field of play to protest the officiating. He initiated the stoppage in play by throwing a water bottle on the mat. Following intense shouting and appeals.
One of the issues that had irked Vinesh’s camp was the fact that they wanted to have a clear look at the TV screen where the review was taking place. But funnily enough, the screen malfunctioned. The referees assured Vinesh that the decision would not be taken without them having a look at the screen.
But the referees did not keep their word.
The shouting prompted WFI president Sanjay Singh to get off his seat and storm towards the Vinesh camp with his entourage. Just when it felt like a skirmish would take place, better sense prevailed.
The police were asked to stop enjoying the wrestling bouts and focus on their jobs instead. Guess where they accumulated? Behind Vinesh’s camp.
The three-time Olympian eventually lost out in the semi-final of competition, against one of the rising stars – Meenakshi, much to the joy of the WFI supporters.
But that is not the point.
One wonders, if international fame athletes who have brought the country glory face this kind of harassment, what is the state of the unknown faces in the system. Phogat, in the recent months, has levied some serious allegations against the federation and its former boss, but in return she has found absolutely no reprieve.
Instead, WFI have come out tooth and nail against the wrestler, attempting to block her from the sport altogether.
What was supposed to be a joyous opportunity of return, turned into an ugly event for Vinesh, who had come with one goal – to qualify for the Asian Games.
Instead, she had to go through uncertainty over her weight class, paranoia about her food and water being tampered with, and biased refereeing, which kept her nerves engaged beyond her primary goal.
In any civilised country, this would have sent the federation or the sports ministry into a meltdown, but not with the WFI.
The cheers for Vinesh were loud enough to drown out the rain outside the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium. They were not loud enough to drown out everything else.
For all the wrestling that took place on Saturday, the day rarely felt like it was about wrestling. Not when an athlete was fighting over her weight class a day before competition. Not when she was stopped at the gates before her weigh-in. Not when supporters and federation officials spent the day trying to outshout one another. Not when a broken review screen became the centre of the biggest controversy of the afternoon.
What was supposed to be a comeback became a confrontation. Every step of the process seemed designed to create another flashpoint, another argument, another grievance.
Indian wrestling got one of its greatest athletes back on Saturday. Yet somehow, the WFI found a way to make her return feel ugly.
What a mess.
– Ends
