{"id":15101,"date":"2026-05-11T17:53:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T17:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/2026\/05\/11\/they-want-me-to-take-sanyaas-but-i-wont-give-up-vinesh-phogat-more-sports-news\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T17:53:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T17:53:25","slug":"they-want-me-to-take-sanyaas-but-i-wont-give-up-vinesh-phogat-more-sports-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/?p=15101","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;They want me to take sanyaas, but I won\u2019t give up&#8217;: Vinesh Phogat | More sports News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-131020212,imgsize-73484,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/vinesh-phogat2-1105-sd.jpg\" alt=\"'They want me to take sanyaas, but I won\u2019t give up': Vinesh Phogat\" title=\"Vinesh Phogat (Image credit: PTI) \" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"Vinesh Phogat (Image credit: PTI) \">Vinesh Phogat (Image credit: PTI) <\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>GONDA: What was expected to be a routine domestic ranking-series wrestling tournament in Uttar Pradesh\u2019s Gonda district turned into one of the most politically and emotionally charged episodes Indian wrestling has witnessed in recent years.<!-- --> The reason stood outside the Nandini Nagar Mahavidyalaya indoor hall on Monday afternoon \u2014 three-time Olympian and two-time World Championships medallist <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/vinesh-phogat\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Vinesh Phogat<\/a>, returning from retirement and stepping directly into the stronghold of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"5\"\/>But the comeback never officially began. Despite arriving at the venue with husband Somvir Rathee, personal security staff, former protest associates and around 50 supporters, Vinesh was denied entry into Nandini Nagar Mahavidyalaya indoor hall complex in Nawabganj, the venue for the three-day meet.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"9\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"wLCOS vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"ap_Bf\">\n<div class=\"ZM4zO\">\n<p><i class=\"bo2C4\"\/> <span>Watch<\/span><\/p>\n<p> <!-- -->Why Suryakumar Yadav is set to lose India T20I captaincy: All you need to know<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"11\"\/>\u201cWhat do you expect me to do? Accept defeat? Shall I take sanyaas and stay away? So that their conspiracy against me succeeds? They are not allowing me. They want to see me tired and retired. All I am asking is a fair chance to compete but they are insisting that first I reply to their notice. This is all conspiracy,\u201d she said after meeting WFI officials.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"13\"\/>Vinesh, who has publicly identified herself as one of the six women wrestlers who accused Brij Bhushan of sexual harassment during the Jantar Mantar protests in 2023, had announced the national open ranking series event as the launchpad of her comeback in the journey to the Los Angeles Olympics.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"16\"\/>Vinesh also dismissed accusations that her comeback bid is \u201cpolitically motivated\u201d. \u201cYou are calling me \u2018tukde tukde gang\u2019, then who are you (referring to Singh and WFI)?\u201d I have given 20 years to Indian wrestling. I have given my heart and soul to this sport. Athletes are under mental pressure. I am not feeling safe in this environment. They want me to retire so their conspiracy succeeds,\u201d she claimed.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"18\"\/>But the WFI remained unmoved. \u201cOn five points, the WFI has given notice to her. <!-- -->Till the time she doesn\u2019t respond to the allegations, we won\u2019t let her participate. For this tournament, she remains suspended,\u201d WFI president Sanjay Singh said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"22\"\/>Inside the registration hall, Vinesh attempted to complete physical verification for her weight category but was denied permission to proceed. Later, she also claimed she was prevented from training at the indoor wrestling hall inside the complex. The federation officials, however, said they were unaware of any such denial.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"25\"\/>The federation maintained that disciplinary proceedings against her were still pending and that she remained suspended from domestic competition until June 26, 2026. Yet Vinesh insisted she had fulfilled all anti-doping and procedural requirements mandated by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and United World Wrestling (UWW).<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"27\"\/>\u201cI received the notice on Saturday and did not have enough time to respond properly because I was preparing for the competition and cutting weight. <!-- -->They gave me 14 days to submit a detailed reply, which I\u2019ll surely give. But my request was not to stop me from competing during that period.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"31\"\/>The confrontation escalated further when Vinesh released on social media a confidential July 3, 2025 communication from the International Testing Agency (ITA), which handles anti-doping processes for UWW. The mail, sent by testing officer Estelle Daloz, clearly stated that she was eligible to return to competition from Jan 1, 2026.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"34\"\/>\u201cI have been given written permission by the ITA to compete from Jan 1, 2026. If I had violated any rule, then the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) would have given me a show-cause notice. Or they would have banned me. Or WADA would have given me a show-cause notice. I had missed one whereabouts. And there are three of them. I had become a mother at that time. I had an assembly session. I forgot to update. I even apologised to WADA for that.<!-- --> They gave me a clean chit. They told me that I can participate in any international event,\u201d she added.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"38\"\/>TOI had earlier reported that Vinesh had complied with the comeback procedures laid down by UWW and WADA and had submitted her return-to-competition document as early as June 2025. The wrestler revealed she had already undergone two anti-doping tests since announcing her comeback on Dec 18, 2025 and had cleared both.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"41\"\/>The federation later released a statement stating that Vinesh was provided full security from the moment she arrived at the tournament venue. \u201cAs witnessed by everyone present, she met the officials and was informed about her ineligibility to participate, as per the rules and procedures in place. She freely interacted with the media and was not stopped or interrupted anywhere, following this, she left the venue peacefully.<!-- --> From her arrival in Gonda to her departure from the venue, complete security and support were extended to her at every step,\u201d the statement read.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"45\"\/>PTI adds, Looking for a place to train ahead of the women\u2019s weigh-in scheduled between 5pm and 7pm on Monday, Vinesh searched for a warm-up area inside the venue only to find it locked. \u201cAb training bhi nahi kar sakti kya? Lock toh khulwa do kam se kam (I can&#8217;t even train now. At least open the lock),\u201d she said in frustration.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"48\"\/>She then moved to the SAI Khelo India Centre hoping to find mats to train on, but there were none available there either.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"50\"\/>\u201cWe are trying in every way but they are not letting me wrestle. I came here putting my life and mind at stake,\u201d she said before leaving the venue.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"52\"\/>Despite the setback, Vinesh asserted that she would continue fighting. \u201cI am working hard honestly and truthfully. God knows I am clean. If I am right, he will give me strength. We will fight for our rights,\u201d she said. It is learnt that Vinesh, Rathee and her team left for Delhi after taking a late evening flight from Lucknow.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"54\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/sports\/more-sports\/wrestling\/they-want-me-to-take-sanyaas-but-i-wont-give-up-vinesh-phogat\/articleshow\/131020205.cms\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vinesh Phogat (Image credit: PTI) GONDA: What was expected to be a routine domestic ranking-series wrestling tournament in Uttar Pradesh\u2019s Gonda district turned into one of the most politically and emotionally charged episodes Indian wrestling has witnessed in recent years. The reason stood outside the Nandini Nagar Mahavidyalaya indoor hall on Monday afternoon \u2014 three-time&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saharanews.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}