Hyderabad: The news of Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification from the Paris Olympics sent shockwaves across the country and many celebrities including sportspersons and Olympians reacted to the development after that. On wednesday, the Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar took to social media and backed the wrestler.
“Every sport has rules and those rules need to be seen in context, maybe even revisited at times. Vinesh Phogat qualified fair and square for the finals. Her disqualification by weight, was before the finals, and hence, for her to be robbed of a deserving silver medal defies logic and sporting sense,” Tendulkar posted on ‘X’.
#VineshPhogat #Paris2024 #Olympics @WeAreTeamIndia pic.twitter.com/LKL4mFlLQq
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) August 9, 2024
“It would have been understandable if an athlete were to have been disqualified for ethical breaches such as the usage of performance enhancing drugs. In that case, to not be awarded any medal and be placed last would be justifiable. However, Vinesh beat her opponents fairly to reach the top two. She definitely deserves a silver medal," he added.
“While we all wait for a verdict from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, let us hope and pray that Vinesh gets the recognition she deserves.”
Vinesh has filed an appeal against the decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and has demanded a shared silver.
The 29-year-old had made two appeals against her disqualification. The first appeal was to let her weigh in again before the start of the bout, to which the court rejected immediately and the gold medal match went as scheduled on Wednesday night. The second appeal was to award her a silver medal as she had earned it with a proper weigh-in on Tuesday. The CAS has accepted her second plea and the issue will be discussed at the time of the verdict.
According to India Today's reports on Thursday, CAS had granted the Indian contingent to finalise their legal representation until 9:30 PM IST on Thursday. However, the government of India asked for an extension in the hearing to hire a perfect lawyer. Hence, the hearing was rescheduled to 10 AM local time tomorrow (1:30 PM IST), but the verdict on the appeal is still awaited.
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