Vinesh Phogat has challenged her exclusion from the 2026 World Championships selection trials after returning from maternity
Delhi HC questioned WFI's selection policy, saying women athletes need clear guidelines and timelines after pregnancy and childbirth
WFI maintained Phogat can return through performances, while the court said the federation must balance national interest with athletes' careers
Vinesh Phogat's return to competitive wrestling after motherhood has put the Wrestling Federation of India's selection policy for women athletes under scrutiny, with the Delhi High Court on Thursday saying the federation needs clear guidelines to ensure that athletes are not unfairly disadvantaged after taking a maternity break.
Hearing Phogat's plea seeking permission to compete in the selection trials for the 2026 Senior World Championships, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said the WFI must find a balance between the country's interests and those of athletes, particularly women returning to sport after pregnancy.
The court also observed that the absence of defined guidelines and timelines could lead to unfairness in the selection process.
Justice Sharma pointed out that women can lose crucial years of their sporting careers after marriage and childbirth while male athletes continue competing and accumulating performances.
"This is the problem. A woman, she will get married, she will give birth to a child and in that interim period, men will go and win medals and then they will qualify for something and woman will have to sit back at home and look after the children. There should be something that you have to do about this also, otherwise this is being very unfair."
"In this profession also, when one is practicing law, they go when they have children and when they come back, the clients do not come. This is something that we are trying to address because you have failed to. How unfair can this can be?.... Therefore, you have to make some guidelines which will balance the interest of the country also and person also," Justice Sharma said.
The court's observations came as Phogat challenged her exclusion from the women's selection trials for the World Championships, which are scheduled to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan, from October 24 to November 1.
The trials are scheduled for September 14 at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi.
Phogat, who became a mother in July 2025, has argued that the existing selection framework does not account for athletes who miss qualifying competitions because of pregnancy and maternity leave.
Phogat Challenges WFI Selection Criteria
In her latest application, filed in a pending petition before the High Court, Phogat has sought a stay on a September 7 WFI circular laying down the eligibility criteria for the selection trials.
The circular provides for women's trials in six Olympic weight categories.
Phogat has argued that the selection framework effectively creates a closed pathway, with eligibility dependent on participation and performance in specific qualifying competitions.
According to her plea, she has been excluded not because the WFI assessed her sporting ability and found her short of the required standard, but because she could not participate in the competitions designated as gateways to the selection trials.
The plea further states that the policy contains no provision for athletes who miss those qualifying events because they were away from competition for maternity-related reasons.
Phogat has therefore sought a fair and structured mechanism for women athletes returning to competitive sport after pregnancy and maternity leave.
She has also sought transparent and objectively verifiable selection and nomination procedures, along with an alternative pathway for athletes whose participation is affected by maternity.
WFI Says Phogat Can Return Through Performances
Phogat's counsel alleged during Thursday's hearing that the WFI had acted arbitrarily against the wrestler.
He told the court that Phogat and her representatives had gone to the Constitution Club on Wednesday for a meeting concerning a show-cause notice, but no one from the WFI was present. He said the federation subsequently claimed that Phogat had not participated in the meeting.
"This is a case of an institution deliberately targeting me. Prima facie I am able to show malice and bias on their part. WFI has displayed absolute arbitrariness in the case. She was informed of the selection criteria only on September 7 and the trials are scheduled on September 14," he argued.
The WFI denied that Phogat had been barred from competing.
Its counsel told the court that she could participate in the trials if she fulfilled the eligibility requirements under the federation's selection policy.
He argued that medal winners from the relevant competitions in 2025 and 2026 would become eligible and said Phogat could return to the selection pathway by winning medals at state and national-level competitions.
He said she was "very much welcome to win medals" and then "climb back up" through the state and national championships, while pointing out that she had not won medals for several years.
The WFI counsel also referred to other women wrestlers who had returned to competition after maternity and gone on to win medals for India.
"On maternity, there are other wrestlers also. Post maternity, they are also winning medals for India. They get their strength back. They perform well. They get back into 100 per cent shape and then they perform exactly as how they were prior to the pregnancy," the counsel submitted.
The bench, however, questioned whether pointing to other athletes who had successfully returned after childbirth addressed the broader problem with the selection framework.
The court said the WFI should have a system that takes into account the unique circumstances of women athletes who temporarily step away from competition because of pregnancy and childbirth.
The court said it would pass an order on Phogat's application.
Phogat's Separate Legal Battle With WFI
The selection dispute is part of a broader legal battle between Phogat and the wrestling federation.
On September 1, the High Court sought responses from the WFI and the Centre on Phogat's main petition seeking a fair and structured framework for women athletes returning to competitive sport after pregnancy and maternity leave.
Phogat has said that after resuming her wrestling career following the birth of her child in July 2025, she was required to re-enter the existing competitive pathway without any accommodation for the period during which she was unable to compete.
She has also filed a separate petition challenging two show-cause notices issued by the WFI and the disciplinary proceedings initiated against her.
The notices were issued on May 9 and June 17.
Phogat has alleged that the notices form part of a continuing pattern of arbitrary and mala fide action by the federation and have obstructed her return to competitive wrestling after maternity.
The WFI had earlier told the court that hearings on the show-cause notices had been scheduled twice but that Phogat had failed to appear. The federation said she was subsequently given a final opportunity to attend the proceedings.
