India awaits ruling on Vinesh Phogat's appeal against disqualification

Indias 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 Phogats appeal against her disqualification at the Paris Olympics on TuesdayVinesh who stormed into the final of the womens 50kg freestyle event with three convincing wins including against wrestling royalty Yui Susaki of Japan last Tuesday 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 weighinShocked by the dramatic turn of events the crestfallen grappler last Wednesday 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 Indians disqualificationAlso Read100 gm is not going to take away the love of 14 bn Indians Deepa to VineshA day after her heartbreaking disqualification Vinesh announced her retirement from the sport saying she doesnt have the strength to continue as sporting icons from across the world threw their weight behind the 29yearold wrestler who was appearing in her third Olympic GamesMonths 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 grapplersThis 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 medalAlso ReadI need to improve to bring that gold medal Kusale sets target for LA Olympics 2028Cricket 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 sportOn the eve of the verdict 2008 Beijing Olympics bronze medallist boxer Vijender Singh also extended his support to VineshBhan 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 tweetedMeanwhile International Olympic Committee IOC president Thomas Bach while being sympathetic to Vineshs 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 rulesI must say I have a certain understanding for the wrestler its clearly a human touch Bach had said on FridayNow its 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 responsibilityLalovic added I am so sorry for what happened but no matter the size of your country athletes are athletes This weighin was public everyone saw what happened How can we allow someone to compete when we all saw what happenedWe dont have any other choice but to follow our rules Lalovic had saidThe Games concluded on Sunday with a ceremony at Stade de France which was the venue for track and field eventsThe CAS adhoc division set up especially for dispute resolution during the Games had accepted Vineshs appeal against her ouster on FridayWho are representing VineshVineshs 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 bonoIn addition senior counsels Harish Salve and Vidushpat Singhania have also been roped in to help her in the caseSalve 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 caseIf CAS rules in Vineshs favour she will be awarded a jointsilver in the womens 50kg freestyle categoryWith agency inputs