Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat has accused PT Usha, the president of the Indian Olympics Association (IOA), of failing to provide genuine support after she was disqualified from the Paris Olympics 2024.

Earlier, Usha had posted a photo of her meeting with Phogat, who had been hospitalized due to dehydration after the semifinal bout in the 53kg freestyle wrestling final. This photo was shared at a time when the Indian Olympic Association and Usha were being criticized for their delayed reaction to Phogat's disqualification.

However, Phogat has now come forward and claimed that Usha's public show of support was misleading.

Phogat, who recently joined the Indian National Congress, expressed frustration over PT Usha's actions. Despite Usha sharing a photo on social media showing her interaction with Phogat in the hospital, Phogat asserts that the image was taken without her consent and that the support was more about appearances than actual help.

“I don’t know what support I got there,” Phogat said in an interview with a local news channel. 

“PT Usha Madam visited me at the hospital. One photo was clicked... As you said, in politics a lot happens behind closed doors. Similarly, politics happened there (in Paris) as well. That’s why I was heartbroken. Otherwise, a lot of people are saying don’t leave wrestling’. For what should I continue? There is politics everywhere.”

Phogat criticized the way Usha used the social media photo to claim support, calling it a form of pretension. “You are on a hospital bed, where you don’t know what’s happening in life outside, you are going through one of the worst phases of your life. At that place, just to show everyone you were standing with me, you clicked a picture without telling me and then put it on social media to say you were standing with me. That’s not how you show support,” Phogat added.

Following her disqualification, Phogat appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Despite presenting her case, the ruling body adhered to the existing rules, leaving Phogat to return home without a medal