"She definitely deserves a silver medal…" Sachin Tendulkar breaks his silence on Vinesh Phogat disqualification row

Sachin Tendulkar said wrestler Vinesh Phogat shouldn’t be robbed of a deserving silver medal at the Paris Olympics 2024.

In a strongly-worded tweet, Indian cricket great Sachin Tendulkar has thrown his weight behind Vinesh Phogat as everyone awaits the verdict of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), where the wrestler had filed an appeal after being disqualified ahead of the final of the Women’s 50kg event at the Paris Olympics 2024.

Vinesh was disqualified on the morning of her gold medal match for being 100 grams overweight. Because of being disqualified, she was put in the last position and didn’t even win the silver medal despite reaching the final.

Vinesh soon filed an appeal at the CAS. It has been learned that Vinesh’s team is seeking a joint silver medal. The verdict of the appeal will be delivered before the conclusion of the Olympics.

Defies logic and sporting sense: Sachin Tendulkar on Vinesh not receiving the silver medal

Following the controversy, Indian cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar took to X (formerly Twitter) on Friday to give his opinion on this topic.

The batting legend said that Vinesh had qualified for the final “fair and square” and not awarding her the silver medal “defies logic and sporting sense”. Tendulkar also explained that since this disqualification was because of weight and not ethical breaches such as the usage of performance enhancing drugs, placing her last isn’t fair.

Tendulkar said in a note, “Time for an Umpire’s Call! 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.

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