New Delhi: India waits with bated breath for the Court of Arbitration (CAS) verdict on the Olympics disqualification appeal filed by Vinesh Phogat. The Indian wrestler was disqualified from the Olympics final on the morning of her gold medal bout after being found overweight by a little over 100 grams. Hours away from scripting history, Vinesh’s confirmed silver was snatched away due to United World Wrestling (UWW) rules.
Following the heartbreaking disqualification from the Paris Games gold medal match in the 50kg freestyle wrestling, the wrestler subsequently retired from sports and then decided to challenge the result at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
After an ad-hoc panel hearing on Tuesday, the decision was deferred to August 13 (today). While the argument from Vinesh’s side is that the wrestler should be awarded the silver medal because she maintained her weight under 50kg for the pre-quarterfinal, quarterfinal and semifinal bouts, UWW is opposing Vinesh’s plea, citing rules.
Following the disqualification UWW chief Nenad Lalovic said: “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”.
But if it is all about rules, then there is a loophole in UWW rules that could turn the favour in Vinesh’s favour
What is the UWW rule loophole?
According to a report in Revsportz, the wrestling body suggests that even if the athlete is found slightly overweight in the weigh-in like in Vinesh’s case (100 grams), the incident can’t be overlooked.
However, if UWW play by the rules then they should look at themselves in the mirror for there remains a big loophole in their rulebook too.
According to the wrestling body rules, a wrestler can only fight in repechage if he/she loses to the finalist. But in the 50kg freestyle wrestling final, Yui Susaki of Japan, who was beaten by Vinesh in the pre-quarterfinal got the chance to fight in the bronze medal repechage rounds. As per the rules, since Vinesh was disqualified before her final bout, Susaki shouldn’t have been allowed to fight in the repechage rounds.
If Susaki had lost to one of the finalists – Yusneylys Guzman of Cuba and Sarah Hildebrandt of the USA – only then the Japanese should have been permitted to feature in the repechage rounds.
Then, on what basis and according to which rule did WW allow Susaki to compete for bronze?
The onus is now on the Indian camp to exploit this loophole to turn the verdict in Vinesh’s favour.
Vinesh Phogat CAS hearing: Here’s how a wrestling rule ‘loophole’ can turn the CAS verdict in the Indian wrestler’s favour Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
