The Delhi High Court has highlighted the challenges faced by women athletes whose sporting careers are interrupted by pregnancy and childbirth while hearing wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s plea to participate in the selection trials for the 2026 Senior World Wrestling Championships.
The court, however, rejected Phogat’s request for interim permission to participate in the Wrestling Federation of India’s (WFI) selection trials, observing that allowing her to compete despite not meeting the prescribed eligibility criteria would amount to creating a special exception in her favour.
Delhi HC flags challenges for women athletes
During the hearing, the court stressed the need to balance sporting regulations with the circumstances of women athletes returning to competition after pregnancy and childbirth.
“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 and someone 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,” the court observed, according to Bar and Bench.
The remarks came while Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma was hearing Phogat’s plea seeking provisional inclusion in the eligibility pool for the women’s selection trials scheduled for September 14 at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in New Delhi.
HC rejects Vinesh Phogat’s plea
The Delhi High Court refused to grant Phogat interim permission to participate in the trials for the 2026 Senior World Wrestling Championships, scheduled to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan, from October 24 to November 1.
The WFI’s September 7 eligibility circular sets criteria based on performances in events including the 2025 Senior Nationals, 2026 Senior Open Ranking Tournament, 2026 U-23 Nationals, Federation Cup, National Coaching Camp and the 2026 U-20 World Championships.
The court noted that the eligibility criteria applied uniformly to all athletes seeking to participate in the selection trials.
It held that granting Phogat an exception would potentially be unfair to other athletes who may have similar grievances but are not before the court.
Pregnancy and postpartum recovery to be considered
The court clarified that it was not expressing a final opinion on the validity of the WFI’s September 7 eligibility circular or the disciplinary proceedings pending against Phogat.
Justice Sharma observed that Phogat’s circumstances relating to pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum recovery would have to be considered while examining the validity of the policy.
However, the court said these circumstances did not, at the interim stage, automatically entitle her to participate in the trials contrary to the existing eligibility criteria.
The court also cautioned that creating a special exception for one athlete could lead to similar requests from other athletes and complicate the implementation of the selection policy.
The order was passed on an application filed by Phogat through her lawyers Aashita Khanna, Ritwik Prakash and Neil M Goswami, seeking permission to participate in the trials.
