Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has demanded that Vinesh Phogat should be given a deserving silver medal after she was disqualified for being overweight before the 50kg category final. Vinesh, who had a sensational run to the final round, would then announce her retirement from the sport and put in an appeal to the Court Of Arbitration of Sport (CAS). The process of the plea was accepted on August 8 and the hearing is ongoing.
Tendulkar posted a statement on his official X account and said that Vinesh had qualified fairly for the finals and was robbed of a deserving medal. The cricket legend said that it would have made sense if the wrestler was disqualified for some malpractice like using enhancement drugs. Tendulkar ended his statement by hoping that Vinesh would get the recognition she deserves.
“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,” said Tendulkar.
