Vinesh Phogat CAS verdict Highlights: August 13, 2024

Meanwhile, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach, while being sympathetic to Vinesh’s situation, wondered where would one draw the line after allowing small concessions in certain situations but United World Wresting (UWW) chief Nenad Lalovic remained doubtful that there would be any change in the results as they were only following the rules. 

“I must say, I have a certain understanding for the wrestler; it’s clearly a human touch,” Bach had said . 

“Now, it’s (appeal) in CAS. We will, at the end, follow the CAS decision. But, again, the international (wrestling) federation, they have to apply their interpretation, their rules. This is their responsibility.” Lalovic added, “I am so sorry for what happened, but no matter the size of your country, athletes are athletes. This weigh-in was public, everyone saw what happened. How can we allow someone to compete when we all saw what happened. 

“We don’t have any other choice but to follow our rules,” Lalovic had said.

2008 Beijing Olympics bronze medallist boxer Vijender Singh also extended his support to Vinesh.

“Bhan @Phogat_Vinesh aap ke sath pehle bhi the ab bhi hai or aage bhi rahenge (Sister, I was with you earlier, with you now, and will be with you in future too),” Vijender tweeted.

Legendary Indian men’s hockey team goalkeeper PR Sreejesh believes that Vinesh Phogat deserves a medal after reaching the final of the women’s 50kg wrestling competition in Paris after being disqualified for being merely 100 gram over-weight. 

The celebrated custodian, who retired from competitive sport after his second successive Olympic bronze medal, couldn’t even imagine himself in Vinesh’s position and said that he had no idea how he would have reacted to this kind of tragedy. 

“There are two views, one being an athlete she deserves a medal, getting into the final, they snatched it from her, silver for sure. She was strong. If I was in her situation, I don’t what I would have done,” Sreejesh said at an interaction with PTI editors at its headquarters here on Tuesday (August 13, 2024). 

“The next day before our bronze medal match I met her and she said ‘Bhai good luck, play well’. I felt like she was hiding her pain with that smile. She is a real fighter.” Sreejesh, 36, who won back-to-back Olympic bronze medals in his glorious 18-year-old career, however, felt Vinesh’s case should be a lesson for all Indian athletes. 

“The second part is just different because you have Olympic rules and the Indian athletes know what is happening there and they should be ready for that. They shouldn’t give any chance to the federation, to the organising committee, to the International Olympic Committee (OC). 

“So it should be a lesson for everyone. When you are prepared for that you have to be strict with rules and regulations,” he said.

Vidushpat Singhania, the advocate of wrestler Vinesh Phogat, said that the ace Indian wrestler is a champion irrespective of how the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS) delivers the verdict in her fight for a Paris Olympics medal. She was set to face Sarah Ann Hildebrandt of the United States for the gold but was disqualified for the weight limit breach. Earlier in the tournament, Phogat achieved a significant victory by beating Tokyo 2020 champion Yui Susaki of Japan in the round of 16.

Vidushpat said, “The hearing took place on August 9 and the verdict is expected by 9.30 pm tonight. Vinesh was represented by 4 lawyers. She is the applicant and United World Wrestling (UWW) and International Olympic Committee are the respondents and Indian Olympic Association is an interested party. We hope the decision will come in Vinesh’s favour. She is a champion no matter what CAS’s verdict is and should be respected like one.”

All too familiar with the pain of being disqualified over a few extra grams, Japanese Olympic champion Rei Higuchi offered his support to Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who was debarred from her final in the Paris Games for being 100gm above the prescribed limit.

Higuchi, the gold-medallist in men’s 57kg freestyle event, was eliminated from the qualifiers of the Tokyo Olympics three years ago for being overweight by just 50gm. He eventually even lost a playoff bout and could not compete in his home Olympics despite being highly rated even at that time.

“I understand your pain the best. Same 50g. Don’t worry about the voices around you. Life goes on. Rising from setbacks is the most beautiful thing. Take a good rest,” Higuchi, who defeated India’s Aman Sehrawat in the 57kg freestyle category semifinals en route his gold, wrote on X while commenting on Vinesh’s retirement announcement.

Drawing criticism for Vinesh Phogat’s weigh-in fiasco, Indian Olympic Association president PT Usha made it clear that it is the responsibility of the athlete to manage their weight and the attack on its medical team, especially Chief Medical Officer Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala is “unacceptable and worthy of condemnation.” 

The incident started a blame game, also leading to an uproar in the Parliament, with some sections attacking Dr Pardiwala and his team for negligence with former IOA chief Narendra Batra indicating that Vinesh’s diet might have had something to do with her disqualification. 

“...the responsibility of weight management of athletes in sport like wrestling, weightlifting, boxing and judo is that of each athlete and his or her coach and NOT that of the IOA-appointed Chief Medical Officer Dr. Dinshaw Pardiwala and his team,” Usha said in a statement. 

“...the hate directed at the IOA medical team, especially Dr. Pardiwala, is unacceptable and worthy of condemnation.” She hoped that those rushing to judge the IOA medical team “would consider all facts before arriving at any conclusions”. 

“Each Indian athlete in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in such sport had his or her own support team. These support teams have been working with the athletes over so many years,” Usha said. 

“The IOA appointed a medical team a couple of months ago, primarily as a team that would assist in the recovery and injury management of athletes during and after their competition. This team was also designed to support athletes who did not have their own team of nutritionists and physiotherapists.” 

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Former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly extended his support to wrestler Vinesh Phogat, saying she deserves at least a silver medal for reaching the 50kg freestyle final at the Paris Olympics. 

The 29-year-old Vinesh was disqualified ahead of the gold-medal bout for being 100gm overweight above the prescribed limit in the morning weigh-in, crushing her Olympic dream. The heartbreak prompted her to announce her retirement from wrestling. 

“I don’t know the exact rule, but I’m sure that when she reached the finals, she must have qualified properly,” Ganguly told reporters when asked for his opinion on the matter on the sidelines of the Kolkata Food Festival here. 

“So when you go to the finals, it’s either a gold or silver medal. Whether she was disqualified wrongfully or not, I don’t know, but she deserves the silver medal at least,” he added. 

Vinesh has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), demanding that she be awarded a joint silver medal with Cuban wrestler Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, who had lost to the Indian but was later promoted to the final following the Haryana wrestler’s disqualification. 

American Sarah Hildebrandt won the gold after defeating Lopez in the title clash. 

The decision on Vinesh’s appeal is expected to come on August 13. 

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar also had supported Vinesh, saying the disqualification of the Indian wrestler, “defied logic and sporting sense”, and asked for rules to be revisited.

Several khaps in Haryana came out in support of wrestler Vinesh Phogat, who was disqualified at the Paris Olympics for being overweight, seeking justice for the grappler and demanded the Bharat Ratna for her. 

The khaps (caste-based councils), which held the ‘Sarv Khap Mahapanchayat’ at Haryana’s Charkhi Dadri, also appealed to Phogat to review her decision of taking retirement from wrestling. 

Speaking to reporters after the mahapanchayat, Sombir Sangwan, who heads the Sangwan Khap, said the entire incident should be inquired by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court and she should get justice. 

To a question on any conspiracy in the matter, Sangwan sought to know how her weight increased suddenly. Several persons accompanied her and it was their responsibility that her weight should not have increased, he said. 

Considering her achievements, she should get the Bharat Ratna, said Sangwan while reading out the khaps’ demands which were decided in the mahapanchayat. 

He also said Phogat should get all facilities what a gold medal winner at the Olympics gets. 

Dadri MLA Sangwan said they have appealed the wrestler to continue playing her sport. 

Replying to a question on whether Phogat should enter politics, he said it depends upon her. 

She has achieved a position which is above a minister or MLA but if she takes a decision to enter politics then khaps will support her, he said. 

The khaps also announced that they would honour her by organizing a function.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav slammed the Indian Olympic Association over its president’s remarks regarding wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification from the Olympics.

In a veiled attack on the Narendra Modi government, Mr. Yadav also said that if there was an Olympics for political conspiracy, those in power at the Centre would win without competing.

Phogat, 29, was disqualified at the Paris Olympics for being 100 gm overweight ahead of her women’s 50 kg final bout on August 7. She filed an appeal against her disqualification and a decision on it is expected to come on Tuesday.

Drawing criticism for Phogat’s weigh-in fiasco, IOA president P T Usha made it clear that it is the responsibility of the athlete to manage their weight and the attack on its medical team was “unacceptable and worthy of condemnation.” In a post in Hindi on X, Yadav said, “The statement of the Indian Olympic Association about the great warrior Vinesh Phogat that the responsibility of the weight and body of the player lies only with her coach and support team is reprehensible.

“Is the Indian Olympic Association pointing a finger at the support team along with the coach? These people are also associated with the association. The question also arises as to who selected the support team. People are asking if the responsibility was only of those people, then why was the chief medical officer sent along,” Yadav said.

Vinesh’s legal team has French lawyers Joelle Monlouis, Estelle Ivanova, Habbine Estelle Kim and Charles Amson who helped her and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) during the filing of the application. They have been provided to her by the Paris Bar and are handling the case pro bono.

In addition, senior counsels Harish Salve and Vidushpat Singhania have also been roped in to help her in the case.

Salve served as the Solicitor General of India from 1999 to 2003. He also represented India before the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case.

If CAS rules in Vinesh’s favour, she will be awarded a joint-silver in the women’s 50kg freestyle category. 

The public reaction in India to Vinesh Phogat’s exit from the Olympics has been unsettling — not because she left unexpectedly but because statements by political leaders, public personalities, and many people (as spotted on social media platforms) reveal no introspection, and no concern for the wrestlers’ conditions in the country. 

India’s administration of wrestling sports has been far from ideal. Recall the wrestlers, especially females, whom the Indian government virtually abandoned ahead of the Asian Games in Hangzhou; Antim Panghal, who could not compete under the Indian flag despite winning bronze at the World Championships because of the complacency of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI); the lower funding and vexation of private sponsorships for female wrestlers; and the opacity surrounding the WFI’s operations. 

Vinesh Phogat’s dream run at the Paris Olympics came to a morale-shattering halt after she failed to meet the weight requirement for her women’s 50kg wrestling gold medal bout. She also lost out on a confirmed silver medal. 

The 29-year-old was a little over 100 grams above the 50kg weight limit during this morning’s weigh-in at 7.15am local time. Vinesh weighed 49.9kg on Tuesday morning ahead of her first-round bout, well within the permissible limit. She, however, gained weight during the day as she secured three back-to-back wins, including one over defending Olympic champion Yui Susaki, to reach the final.

Following her struggles during the wrestlers’ protest last year, uncertainties after a knee surgery and confusion over whether she could get a chance to challenge Antim Panghal, who had won the 53kg Olympic quota place, two-time World championships bronze medal winning wrestler Vinesh chose to compete in the 50kg selection trials and eventually secured a quota. 

Despite the arduous task of significantly cutting down her body weight, obviously by staying without food, to fit into 50kg, Vinesh was determination personified as she shocked Japan’s World and Olympic champion Yui Susaki 3-2 in her opening bout on her way to the semifinals of the Olympics at the Champ de Mars wrestling arena in Paris on Tuesday (August 6, 2024). 

This was the first loss for Yui in an international competition. She never tasted defeat in 82 international matches and has lost only thrice in her life to a Japanese opponent Yuki Irie. 

The ad-hoc division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Saturday (August 10, 2024) deferred the decision on wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s appeal against her disqualification for being overweight and “withdrawal of her silver medal.”

A legal counsel associated with the case told The Hindu that the time limit was extended till 6 p.m. Paris time (9.30 p.m. IST) on August 13, 2024.

The CAS first deferred the decision until 6 p.m. local time on Saturday (August 10, 2024). Later, it decided to move the time limit further.