Vinesh Phogat's CAS Hearing On Olympic Silver Medal Ends, Lawyers Confident Of Positive Outcome

Vinesh Phogat's hearing in Paris at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ended. The star Indian wrestler had appealed to the CAS after she was disqualified from the 50kg wrestling final at the Paris Olympics for being 100 gram overweight. Earlier, Vinesh was assured of a silver medal after entering the final of 5okg with three convincing wins but the disqualification saw her finish outside the medal bracket. Though Vinesh was within the permissible weight limit on the first day of the competition, on the second day she was found to overweight and was excluded from the wrestling final. 

Vinesh appealed the CAS, an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration, for a shared silver. The hearing of the appeal took place on Friday and went on for three hours in Paris. 

Vinesh, who was represented by three French lawyers and a translator, was present at the hearing virtually. Also present were lawyers Haris Salve and Vidushpat Singhania representing the Indian Olympics Association (IOA). The United World Wrestling (UWW) had their lawyer too at the hearing.

Dr Annabelle Bennett AC SC (AUS), was the sole arbitrator for CAS. She hear both parties' arguments patiently. Vinesh's lawyers argued that the wrestlers disqualification was not right. The CAS said that there is an operating procedure for which it was taking time but added that the verdict will be delivered soon.    

Singhania told NDTV that he was confident of a positive outcome. 

Earlier, the CAS had released a statement on Vinesh Phogat. 

CAS Statement On Vinesh Phogat's Plea:

"An application was filed at the CAS Ad hoc Division at 16:45 CEST on 7 August 2024 by Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat (the Applicant) in