Sports / Giving you 1 chance, you will be banned for life if you repeat mistakes: WFI to Vinesh

Sports Desk: Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat has been cleared by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) to participate in the World Championships. Phogat was temporarily suspended by WFI for alleged discipline upon her arrival from 2020 Tokyo Olympics - where she could not win a medal despite being one of India's top medal contenders.

As reported by The Indian Express, Phogat and two other wrestlers -  Sonam Malik and Divya Kakran, have also been allowed to participate in World Championships by WFI - who said that it will impose lifetime bans on the wrestlers in case of any disciplinary issue in the future.

In a letter addressed to the three wrestlers, WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said that they had decided to give the wrestlers one more chance and will be forced to impose lifetime bans on them if they repeat their mistakes.

“Even though your written reply to the show-cause notice, which you had sent to the Wrestling Federation of India office, was not satisfactory, the Wrestling Federation of India wants to give you one more chance so that you can rectify your mistakes,” Sharan wrote in the letter, dated August 24, 2021. “Therefore, the Wrestling Federation of India’s disciplinary committee forgives you with a warning that if you repeat your mistakes, then the Wrestling Federation of India will be compelled to impose a lifetime ban on you.”

After Phogat's early exit from Tokyo 2020 - where she lost to former World champion and current European champion Belarusian Vanesa Kaladzinskaya ‘by fall’ in the women’s 53kg quarterfinals, WFI issued a show-cause notice to her for refusing to stay with the Indian athletes and training with them and for not wearing the official team jersey for her bouts.

The report added that the WFI was planning to ban Phogat as well as the other two wrestlers for the next two international events before changing its mind to give them one more chance.