Wrestler Vinesh Phogat demands 4 crore cash and a plot from Haryana government

Wrestling, Vinesh Phogat, Olympics, Babita Phogat, Geeta Phogat

April 11, 2025

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Wrestler Vinesh Phogat demands 4 crore cash and a Plot from Haryana Government

Vinesh Phogat, a celebrated Olympic medalist and one of the most popular former wrestlers from Haryana, has become the centre of attention once again. The 30-year-old Phogat was shockingly disqualified from the 2024 Paris Olympics for being overweight by a margin of over 100 gms, right before her bout for the gold medal in the 50 kg category.

A day after her disappointing exit, Vinesh had announced her retirement from the world of wrestling. A day after her disqualification, CM Saini posted on X: “The entire country, not just Haryana, is proud of Vinesh Phogat. She will receive all benefits due to a silver medallist”.

Post her voluntary goodbye to her career, Phogat successfully contested the Haryana assembly elections from the Julana seat last year on a Congress ticket, won her seat by over 6,000 votes.

Last month, Haryana’s current chief minister Nayab Singh had announced that the BJP-led cabinet had decided to offer Phogat a benefit equivalent to that of an Olympic silver medalist under the state’s sports policy, treating her as a special case following her disqualification.

Wrestling, Vinesh Phogat, Olympics, Babita Phogat, Geeta Phogat

The state had provided her three types of benefits from which she had to choose any one as per her preference: – a cash prize of INR 4 crore or an Outstanding Sportsperson (OSP) job under Group ‘A’ or a Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) plot.

After careful consideration, Vinesh decided to opt for a cash prize of IRN 4 crore. Three-time Olympian Vinesh Phogat reportedly submitted a letter to the state sports department to inform them of her decision.

However, this has not been it. Soon after submitting her choice, the sports department has found itself in a difficult position; the wrestler-turned-MLA has now sought both the cash award and the plot too.

“She was supposed to choose one, given her unique situation, but she has asked for both,” a sports department official said. This weird request has left the authorities uncertain about how to proceed, as only once choice had to be made but Phogat has now allegedly greedily asked for two demands to be fulfilled.

Wrestling, Vinesh Phogat, Olympics, Babita Phogat, Geeta Phogat

Interestingly, the state of Haryana offers the highest prize money in the country for Olympic achievements, with gold medalists receiving INR 6 crore, silver medalists INR 4 crore and bronze medalists INR 2.5 crore.

Vinesh Phogat, hails from a wrestling family and has her sisters also associated with this sport. She has inspired a whole brigade of young female athletes to take up wrestling as a career. In the past, the three-time Olympian had led from the forefront in the protest against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Singh, on charges of sexual harassment against him.

Whether the Saini government honours both the demands and accepts it to hand over the cash prize and the plot or as per a special consideration fulfils only one condition, given that there was no actual medal bagged by her is something for the sports department to decide in due course of time.