Vinesh Phogat appeals to CAS after Olympic disqualification, UWW chief reacts 'I have nothing against that but...'

Vinesh Phogat has filed an appeal against her disqualification at Paris Olympics.

Vinesh Phogat, who was earlier disqualified from the Paris Olympics, has appealed against the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS). Vinesh had failed to miss the weight cut by 100 grams in the women's 50kg freestyle wrestling, hours before her gold medal bout against USA's Sarah Hildebrandt. Vinesh has appealed to the CAS to give her a joint silver medal.

CAS has asked till tomorrow (Thursday) to deliver its final verdict. If the CAS passes the verdict in her Vinesh’s favour, IOC will have to award a joint silver to Vinesh.

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Vinesh had made the weight cut on Tuesday for her respective bout against reigning Olympic champion Yui Susaki, whom she defeated 3-2. Following this Vinesh took on Ukraine's Oksana Livach in the quarterfinal, which turned out to be a tight contest. The Indian secured the bout with a 7-5 scoreline.

Vinesh then met Cuba's Yusneylis Guzman Lopez in the semi-final, whom she defeated 5-0. This assured Vinesh and India of at least a silver medal, also making her the first Indian grappler to qualify for the final at the Olympics.

Guzman replaced Vinesh in the final bout against Hildebrandt, while Susaki and Livach will compete for a bronze medal in the same event.

However, she was overweight by two kilograms after finishing her bout and underwent a rigorous routine to shed the extra weight.

PT Usha, the president of Indian Olympic Association (IOA), expressed shock on Vinesh's disqualification from the Paris Olympics. The former sprinter said that she met the grappler at the Olympic Village polyclinic on Wednesday and assured her of complete support from the IOA. She also informed that the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) have filed an appeal with the international wrestling body, United World Wrestling (UWW), to consider the decision to disqualify Vinesh.

However, Nenad Lalovic – the head of UWW, spoke to Indian reporters in Paris and expressed the outcome will be against Vinesh. “I have nothing against that (India’s appeal) but I know the outcome. I don’t see anything that can be done. It is the competition’s rules and I really don’t think it is possible (to overturn the decision),” he said.

Earlier in the day during an interaction with Indian reporters he had confirmed Vinesh won't be given a consideration and pointed "rules are rules."