Calling the United World Wrestling (UWW) rule "draconian", yet expressing its helplessness in the matter, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday (August 19) released its 24-page judgment on Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat's appeal against her disqualification from the Paris Olympics final. (More Sports News)
CAS ruled that athletes must ensure that they remain below their weight limit and no exception can be made under any circumstance, while providing reasons for its rejection of Phogat's appeal.
An ad-hoc division of the CAS had on August 14 rejected her plea against a heartbreaking disqualification from the gold medal bout for being 100 grams overweight, a decision that that had evoked a strong reaction from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the country at large.
The detailed CAS verdict states that the UWW rule due to which Phogat's claim for a shared silver medal was disallowed, even though she was withing the weight limit for the preceding bouts, is "draconian" in the sole arbitrator's opinion.
"The consequences of the failed second weigh-in, which do not arise from any illegal or wrongful act on the part of the Applicant are, in the opinion of the Sole Arbitrator, draconian. A consequence of elimination without ranking from the round for which the Athlete was found ineligible, having been eligible for the rounds for which she competed, would seem to be a fairer solution.
"However, it bears repeating that neither the formation or validity of UWW policy is before the Sole Arbitrator and there is no evidence or submission as to the reasons for such policy," the verdict reads.
But rules are rules, and that's what proved to be the stumbling block for Phogat. "The problem for the Athlete is that the Rules are clear as to the weight limit and are the same for all participants. There is no tolerance provided for -– it is an upper limit. It does not even allow for the weight of the singlet. It is clearly up to an athlete to ensure that they remain below that limit," the CAS said.
"There is no dispute that the Applicant was above the weight limit. She gave the above evidence clearly and directly at the hearing. Her case is that the amount of excess was 100g and that a tolerance should apply as this is a small excess and explicable for reasons such as drinking water and water retention, in particular during the pre-menstrual phase," it added.
The 29-year-old wrestler was disqualified on the morning of the women's 50kg freestyle final. The decision on her appeal was rendered after three postponements.
In her appeal, Phogat had sought that she be given a joint silver with Cuban wrestler Yusneylis Guzman Lopez, who lost to her in the semi-finals but was promoted to the title round after the Indian's disqualification. The gold was claimed by United States' Sarah Ann Hildebrandt.
