India's batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar weighed in on the ongoing dispute involving wrestler Vinesh Phogat at the Paris Olympics. The ex-cricketer shared his thoughts on 'X', and like every Indian, he too is eagerly waiting for a decision on the grappler.
Phogat, who was assured of at least a silver at the Olympics, was disqualified from competing further, hours before her gold medal bout. The decision came after Phogat missed her weight by 100 grams during weigh-in. Phogat bravely accepted her fate and told the Indian national coaches it's "part of the game". She, however, has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) for a joint silver, the hearing of which is reportedly at 5:30pm on Friday.
Also Read: CAS and the temporary court that will decide Vinesh Phogat's medal fate
Sharing his thoughts on the same, Tendulkar in a statement wrote : "Time for an Umpire's Call!"
He also tried explaining the grounds on which Phogat deserved the silver medal at the Olympics. The grappler had met the weigh-in for the women's 50kg freestyle wrestling a day before when her opening round match was scheduled. Phogat went to win the bout fair and square and then outmuscled two more opponents to reach the finals, also making her the first female grappler from India to achieve the feat.
"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.
"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. 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," he added.
Meanwhile, the UWW chief Nenad Lalovic is confident that the outcome will not be in favour of the Indian. "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 told Indian media in Paris.
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