Vinesh Phogat cleared WADA’s retirement rule, but Asian Games dream looks out of bounds now

NEW DELHI: Vinesh Phogat has complied with the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) mandatory six-month notice requirement for athletes returning from retirement, sources close to the wrestler have claimed, even as fresh controversies continue to cloud her comeback to competitive wrestling.

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Vinesh, who reversed her retirement decision in Dec 2025, is set to compete in the senior open ranking series in Gonda from May 10-12 in the 57kg category. However, her return has been mired in disputes involving registration issues on portal, a whereabouts failure in out-of-competition testing, and questions over her eligibility under WADA regulations.




The latest hurdle concerns Article 5.6.1 of WADA’s anti-doping code, which requires athletes in a Registered Testing Pool (RTP) to provide six months’ written notice to both the international federation and national anti-doping agency before resuming competition after retirement.

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has sought clarification from United World Wrestling over whether Vinesh fulfilled the rule before announcing her comeback.

“If she is eligible only then she can compete otherwise not. If Vinesh had sought an exemption, we would have been notified by the authorities,” WFI president Sanjay Singh said.

However, sources close to the wrestler told TOI that Vinesh had formally informed both WADA and UWW in June 2025 about her intention to return later in the year and had submitted the required Form 1 under Article 5.6.1.

“If that wasn’t the case, how did the anti-doping team from ITA, on the instructions of UWW, come for Vinesh’s sample collection in Bengaluru in Dec 2025?” the source asked. “The dope test happened six months after she adhered to WADA’s six-month notice rule in June 2025.”

However, despite clearing the eligibility hurdle, Vinesh’s hopes of representing India at the upcoming Asian Games remain bleak. Under WFI’s selection policy, only medallists from the 2025 Senior Nationals, 2026 Federation Cup and 2026 Under-20 Nationals can compete in the Asiad trials later this month, effectively shutting the door on Vinesh regardless of her performance in Gonda.



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