India’s sports fraternity waited with bated breath as the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), having heard arguments of all parties, got ready to deliver its verdict on wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s appeal against her disqualification at the Paris Olympics, on Tuesday (August 13, 2024).
Vinesh, who stormed into the final of the women’s 50kg freestyle event with three convincing wins, including against wrestling royalty Yui Susaki of Japan last Tuesday (August 6, 2024), was debarred from the gold medal bout against eventual winner Sarah Hildebrandt of the United States as she was found 100gm above the prescribed limit in the customary morning weigh-in.
Shocked by the dramatic turn of events, the crestfallen grappler last Wednesday (August 7, 2024) appealed against the decision at the CAS and demanded that she be given a joint silver with Cuban wrestler Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, who had lost to Vinesh but was later promoted to the final following the Indian’s disqualification.
A day after her heartbreaking disqualification, Vinesh announced her retirement from the sport, saying she doesn’t have the strength to continue, as sporting icons from across the world threw their weight behind the 29-year-old wrestler who was appearing in her third Olympic Games.
Months before she boarded the plane to Paris, Vinesh was spearheading a protest along with fellow wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was accused of sexual harassment and intimidation by the renowned trio and few other grapplers.
This list of sports personalities backing Vinesh included famous Japanese Olympic champion Rei Higuchi, who suffered a similar fate in the Tokyo edition three years ago before claiming a gold in Paris and legendary American freestyle wrestler Jordan Burroughs, who went to the extent of asking the IOC to give Vinesh a silver medal.
Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar, who also was of the opinion that Vinesh should have been awarded a silver at least, champion shooter Abhinav Bindra, double Olympic medallist superstar javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra and celebrated hockey player PR Sreejesh also offered their support to Vinesh and reminded the country of her contributions in the sport.
On the eve of the verdict, 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.
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 on Friday.
“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.
The Games concluded on Sunday with a ceremony at Stade de France, which was the venue for track and field events.
The CAS ad-hoc division, set up especially for dispute resolution during the Games, had accepted Vinesh’s appeal against her ouster on Friday.
Who are representing Vinesh
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.
