Vinesh Phogat says status of her coach’s accreditation for Asian Olympic qualifiers is unclear; SAI confirms proposal cleared

Wrestler Vinesh Phogat has said her bid to qualify for the Paris Olympics was being scuppered because accreditations had not been obtained yet for her personal coach and physio for the Asian Olympic qualifying tournament in Bishkek later this month. Vinesh is aiming for an Olympic quota in the 50 kg category.

Vinesh posted on X that, “despite repeated requests I am not getting any concrete answer from anywhere.”

“The Asian Olympic qualifying tournament is going to start on 19th April. For the past one month, I have been requesting the Government of India (SAI, TOPS) for the accreditation of my coach and physio to accompany me to the competition area. But despite repeated requests, I am not getting any concrete answer from anywhere. No one is ready to help,” Vinesh posted.

In a statement, the Sports Authority of India said there had been no written request from Vinesh for accreditation but the Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) on April 4 had approved a proposal received the previous day from Vinesh for her coach, physio and sparring partner to travel to Bishkek. Submission of entries on time was the responsibility of the WFI, the statement mentioned.

The last date for submission of entries set by the United World Wrestling was March 21. A source said Vinesh had emailed the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) and the now disbanded ad-hoc committee on March 18.

“There hasn’t been any written request from Vinesh regarding the accreditation. MOC in its meeting dated April 4 approved the proposal received from Vinesh on April 3 for being accompanied by – Ashwini Patil (physio), Woller Akos (coach), Arvind Kumar (sparring partner) — for the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Kyrgyzstan starting from April 19. It may be noted that the last date for submission of entries was March 21 and any modification can be done upon the request by the WFI to UWW,” the SAI statement said.

Indian Wrestler Vinesh Phogat. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav/File)

A WFI official said that the Indian team travelling to Bishkek comprised one female physio and two male physios, three coaches for men’s freestyle, three for Greco-Roman and three for women. The official confirmed that as on Friday, Vinesh’s coach, physio and sparring partner were not part of the official team.

“There are five women wrestlers from India for the Asian Olympic qualifying competition and one physio. Why should only one wrestler travel with a personal physio or coach? Moreover, the WFI had sent the entries after getting it vetted by SAI and the sports ministry,” the official claimed.

However, SAI said that the WFI did not share the list of wrestlers and support staff and added that it was solely the responsibility of the federation to submit entries.

“WFI being a NSF (National Sports Federation), directly forwards/submits the entry of athletes through UWW portal ‘Athena’ and therefore, no list was shared before the submission of the entries. The last date for the submission of entries by a NOC was March 21 while WFI sent the proposal for financial assistance towards the same on March 22 and revised proposal on April 1. The sanction for the tournament was issued by SAI dated April 3 while the proposal from Vinesh Phogat was received the same day. However, as the first proposal was sent by WFI to SAI on March 22 and by Vinesh Phogat on April 3, the entries would have already been submitted by WFI on the UWW portal given the last date was March 21… The selection of the athletes, coaches and support staff for any international tournament is done by the NSF,” the SAI statement added.

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In the post on X, Vinesh also accused the former and current WFI presidents of putting hurdles in her path to the Paris Olympics and alleged that there could be a conspiracy to spike her drink to trap her in the dope net. “Brij Bhusan and his deputy Sanjay Singh are trying to stop me from playing in the Olympics. All the coaches who have been appointed with the team are the favourites of Brij Bhushan and his team, so it cannot be denied that they may mix something in the water and make me drink it during my match. If I say that there could be a conspiracy to trap me in doping, then it will not be wrong… Will we face politics even before we go to play for the country because we raised our voice against sexual harassment?” Vinesh posted on X

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