Paris: Suspense continued on the fate of Vinesh Phogat's appeal against her Olympic disqualification with the ad-hoc division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport extending the time limit to deliver its decision till August 16 without specifying the reasons for continuing to defer the matter.
The 29-year-old was disqualified from the women's 50kg free-style final for being 100gm overweight at the time of weigh-in on Wednesday last week. "The CAS ad hoc division president has allowed Hon. Dr Annabelle Bennett, Sole Arbitrator in the Vinesh Phogat vs United World Wrestling (UWW) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) matter, an extension until 6:00 pm (Paris time) on Friday, August 16, 2024," a release from the IOA said.
This is the third deferment in the case and no reasons have been given. In her appeal, Vinesh has demanded that she be given a joint silver with Cuban wrestler Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, who had lost to her in the semifinals but was promoted to the final following the Indian's disqualification.
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 were also roped in to help her in the case.
Interestingly, the IOA had sent out invites for an online press conference with its president PT Usha and Salve at the exact same time at which the verdict was expected this evening. That invite was withdrawn within minutes of the CAS statement. Vinesh, who was making her third Olympic appearance here, announced her retirement from the sport a day after her disqualification, saying that she doesn't have the strength to continue.
The world championships bronze-medallist had resorted to desperate measures to save herself from disqualification, including cutting her hair, going without food and water, and working out an entire night. She ultimately needed IV fluids due to extreme dehydration and her plight evoked sympathy across the board.
Top fellow athletes like javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, hockey star P R Sreejesh and even cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar threw their weight behind her and advocated a silver medal. International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach later stated that he could understand her situation but also wondered where would one draw the line after allowing small concessions in certain situations.
"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."
Nenad Lalovic, the United World Wresting (UWW) chief, however, remained doubtful that there would be any change in the results as they were only following the rules. "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 CAS ad-hoc division, set up especially for dispute resolution during the Games, had accepted Vinesh's appeal against her ouster on Friday last week.
