Vinesh Phogat Registers for Gonda Wrestling Tournament

Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat sparked a brief controversy on April 27 when she publicly accused the Wrestling Federation of India of blocking her registration for the National Open Ranking Tournament in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh, scheduled for May 10 to 12. The Commonwealth Games gold medalist later confirmed on April 28 that she had successfully registered for the event in the 57kg category, marking her return to competition after nearly 20 months.

Phogat stated that she encountered issues with the WFI online portal that evening, which displayed as closed despite the April 30 deadline outlined in a federation circular. "The registration for it was open till April 30. However, when I tried to register, the portal says it is now closed," she said. She added that her calls to WFI administrative staff went unanswered. A viral screenshot circulating on social media showed her entry timestamped at 10:27 p.m. that night, fueling questions about the sequence of events.

WFI officials attributed the problem to technical glitches affecting multiple wrestlers, which were resolved shortly after. According to federation sources, Phogat's registration was processed at 10:29 p.m. on April 27....