Phogat sisters, Geeta and Babita, take veiled dig at Vinesh Phogat for skipping Mahavir Phogat's role in emotional statement

Vinesh Phogat returned to India on Saturday morning and was received at the airport by Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia. (Source: X)

Vinesh Phogat endured a major setback at the Paris Olympics, following which support emerged from every corner to cheer the grappler. Vinesh, one of India's most decorated wrestler, was assured of at least a silver medal but failed to meet the weight cut for the women's 50kg freestyle wrestling in her second weigh-in, which was on the morning of her final bout against USA's Sarah Hildebrandt, who eventually went to win the gold. Vinesh, who was overweight by 100 grams, appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for a joint silver, however, after examining the matter for almost a week, the CAS dismissed her petition on Wednesday evening.

With her Olympic dreams shattered, Vinesh released an emotional statement on Friday evening, describing her ordeal post the Paris Games setback. In her statement, she lauded the efforts of several individuals who assisted her in the wrestling journey, including Indian Olympic Association (IOA) chief medical officer Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala.

However, out of the few prominent names that she didn't mention in her statement was of her uncle Mahavir Phogat. This didn't go well with the Phogat sisters - Geeta and Babita - who without taking any name threw shots at their cousin. The duo shared cryptic posts on 'X' in Hindi. When translated to English, Geeta's post read: "The result of actions is simple 'The fruit of deceit is deceit' if not today then tomorrow."

कर्मों का फल सीधा सा है
'छल का फल छल '
आज नहीं तो कल

— geeta phogat (@geeta_phogat) August 16, 2024

She also reposted a tweet by her husband Pawan Kumar Saroha, who also comes from a wrestling background. Sharing the three-page statement by Vinesh, Pawan also shared his thoughts on Hindi, which roughly translated to "Vinesh, you have written very well but perhaps today you have forgotten your uncle Mahavir Phogat. Who started your wrestling career. May God give you pure wisdom."

विनेश आपने बहुत ही बढ़िया लिखा है लेकिन शायद आज आप अपने ताऊ जी महावीर फोगाट को भूल गए हैं। जिन्होनें आपकी कुश्ती जीवन को शुरू किया था भगवान आपको शुद्ध बुद्धि दे https://t.co/BtQai2lcEp

— Pawan Saroha (@pawankumar86kg) August 16, 2024

This was not it as Geeta reposted another post by a user on 'X', who tried to highlight Mahavir Phogat's instrumental role in shaping Vinesh's wrestling career.

ये विनेश फोगाट और उनके ताऊ महावीर फोगाट हैं.

आज Vinesh Phogat ने एक पोस्ट किया है, जिसमें उन्होंने उनका सहयोग करने वाले लोगों का धन्यवाद दिया है.

लेकिन बड़ी बात ये है कि विनेश ने इसमें महावीर फोगाट का जिक्र तक नहीं किया है. शायद वीनेश अपने ताऊ को भूल गई हैं.

वीनेश के पापा का… pic.twitter.com/JZjrhEcouG

— Abhay Pratap Singh (बहुत सरल हूं) (@IAbhay_Pratap) August 16, 2024

Meanwhile, Geeta's sister Babita too had a similar reaction. She too didn't take any name but her wrote "Every success is a defeat whose sole purpose is to bring everybody down" on 'X'.

"हर वो कामयाबी हार है"
"जिसका मकसद सिर्फ हर किसी को नीचा दिखाना है"।

— Babita Phogat (@BabitaPhogat) August 17, 2024

Vinesh returned to India on Saturday morning and was received at the New Delhi airport by Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia. The grappler received a rousing reception upon her arrival as hundreds of supporters gathered outside the IGI airport.

Meanwhile, in an interaction with ANI post Vinesh's disqualification, Mahavir Phogat had said that he would welcome her like a gold medallist. "We were hopeful that the verdict will be in our favour but there is no scope for anything after the verdict given by the CAS. When Vinesh returns on the 17th, we will welcome her like a Gold Medalist. We will try to persuade her to prepare for the 2028 Olympics. We will also prepare Sangeeta Phogat and Ritu Phogat for the 2028 Olympics," he said.