Mahavir Phogat snubs Vinesh Phogat joining politics, contesting Haryana Polls: ’Should have focused on 2028 Olympics’

Mahavir Phogat, the famous Dronacharya-awarded wrestling guru, has snubbed his niece Vinesh Phogat for entering politics and contesting elections in the upcoming HaryanaAssembly polls. He said she should have focused on winning a gold medal in the 2028 Olympics.

The famous wrestling guru was reacting after Vinesh Phogat, along with wrestler Bajrang Punia, accepted the Congress' primary membership last week. The grand old party has fielded Vinesh from the Julana constituency in the upcoming Assembly polls.

"I wanted Vinesh to participate in one more Olympics and win a gold medal. She should have focused on achieving her Olympic goal. I am against her joining politics," India Today quoted Mahavir Phogat as saying.

The Dronacharya-awarded wrestling guru said that all hopes are lost when a player decides to join politics.

“I am not sure how much good she will do for the players by entering politics. A player should focus on training new talent rather than stepping into politics. This can also be done by joining the federation,” Mahavir Phogat told News 18.

When he was quizzed about his daughter Babita Phogat joining politics in 2019, Mahavir Phogat said, "Young children will take their own decisions. That depends on them. My duty was to nurture and bring them up. At this age, Vinesh could have participated in one more Olympics. I wanted her to win a gold medal this time."

It is important to note that Mahavir Phogat had urged her niece to reconsider her decision to retire from wrestling.

Mahavir Phogat also slammed former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and said, “Today, they are talking about the welfare of their daughters. When the protest was going on at Jantar Mantar, why did he not sit there throughout the time?”

“Vinesh’s decision to enter politics is her own. I have not spoken to her,” he added.

Earlier in August, Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the Paris 2024 Olympics wrestling competition for being overweight by 100 grams in the women’s 50kg category on the morning of her gold medal bout. According to wrestling rules, if a wrestler fails the weigh-in on either day of the competition (preliminaries, and repechage and final rounds), they are eliminated from the event. She contested the decision but was rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).