Wrestler Vinesh Phogat let off with a warning, eligible for World Championship

Commonwealth Games gold medallist, wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Thursday was let off with a reprimand by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) which had suspended her for indiscipline during the Tokyo Olympics. She will be eligible for this year’s World Championship.

Along with Phogat, the two other wrestlers, Sonam Malik and Divya Kakran, who had been barred by the body have also been given a green signal to participate in the World Championships. 

Also read: I am blank: Wrestler Vinesh Phogat opens up on Tokyo Olympics loss

In a letter addressed to the three, WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said they will be compelled to impose lifetime bans on the trio for any act of indiscipline in the future.

“Even though your written reply to the show-cause notice, which you had sent to the Wrestling Federation of India office, was not satisfactory, the Wrestling Federation of India wants to give you one more chance so that you can rectify your mistakes,” Sharan wrote in the letter. The decision was communicated to all wrestlers on Wednesday evening. 

Also read: Olympics: How Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem made Neeraj Chopra ‘hurry’ in finals

“Therefore, the Wrestling Federation of India’s disciplinary committee forgives you with a warning that if you repeat your mistakes, then the Wrestling Federation of India will be compelled to impose a lifetime ban on you,” the letter further read. 

“We will be conducting selection trials on August 31 in New Delhi. They will be allowed to take part in it,” WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar said. The Championship will be held in October in Oslo, Norway. 

After her defeat at Tokyo, Vinesh Phogat refused to stay with the Indian athletes, train with them and wear the official team jersey for her bouts. She lost in the early rounds to Belarus’s Vanesa Kaladzinskaya.

Vinesh Phogat apologised to the WFI last weak.