CAS Hearing: What Vinesh Phogat’s Team Argued Before Tribunal?

Indians are looking at the CAS verdict concerning star athlete Vinesh Phogat with their fingers crossed to see what happens with her. It is known that the wrestler was disqualified after reaching the finals due to being overweight. She challenged the verdict with the Court of Arbitration or Sports (CAS).

The verdict was supposed to be out on Sunday. However, it was postponed and the verdict would be out tomorrow. During the arguments, Vinesh Phogat’s team is said to have placed crucial points.

Talking about being 100 grams overweight the team reportedly said that there would be no advantage with 100 grams which would be 0.1-0.2 percent of the total weight of the athlete. Giving the reasons for this the team said that there was not enough time to reduce the weight due to less time.

The team said that there was very little time between the bouts and hence there was no time to reduce the weight. The team also stressed on the food the athlete took due to back-to-back games.

The team said that Vinesh Phogat played three games in a single day and she had to take food to have strength. With back-to-back games, she had to take good food to have strength to face the opponents and this might have played a role. The team also stressed the water consumption as a reason due to climate.

Having placed all the points the team said that it is negligible to be 100 grams overweight as it accounts to 0.1 to 0.2 percent of the athlete’s weight and this won't give any advantage to the athlete in any manner.

Vinesh Phogat was disqualified after reaching the finals as she was 100 grams overweight. She moved the CAS saying that she should get the silver medal as she was not allowed to play the finals.