'She was given every facility she asked for': WFI President Sanjay Singh wants CAS to rule in Vinesh Phogat's favour as 'it is country's medal, not personal'

World Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Sanjay Singh wants Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to rule in wrestler Vinesh Phogat's favour and award her a silver medal at the Paris Olympics 2024.  A day after the CAS pushed the date of verdict to August 16, Sanjay said that he wants CAS to award the silver medal as “it is country’s medal, not someone’s personal”. 
 

While Sanjay hopes that another medal is added to India’s tally, he said that Indian wrestler would have got more medals if not for the protests by wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh that lasted more than a year. He feels that the wrestlers were underprepared as not many tournaments took place during this period.
 

"India could have won 6 more medals in wrestling but given the disturbance in the sport over the last 15-16 months, we lost many medals... We are hopeful that the CAS verdict will be in our favour... WFI wants the verdict to be in India's favour because it is the country's medal, not someone's personal medal. It will be added to India's medal tally,' Sanjay told ANI.
 

"The category of the sport is the player's personal decision. However, maintaining that weight also rests on the player. Gaining and reducing weight quickly takes a toll on the body of the player... She was given every facility she asked for, including training with a foreign coach in Hungary,” he added.

ALSO READ: Abhinav Bindra reacts to CAS pushing Vinesh Phogat silver medal verdict, says 'this is kind of like what athletes go through...'
 

Sanjay doesn’t want Vinesh to retire

Earlier, following her disqualification from the historic gold medal bout, Vinesh had announced her retirement from the sport. Sanjay had expressed his shock on learning the news and said urged Vinesh that she rolls back her retirement decision and recover from the fiasco which led to her disqualification.

ALSO READ: 'Felt like she was hiding her pain with that smile... they snatched it from her': PR Sreejesh recalls meeting Vinesh Phogat before bronze medal match
 

Vinesh can still script history

If CAS awards Vinesh a silver medal, she will become the first Indian female wrestler to achieve this feat at the Olympics. Before the 29-year-old, it was Sakshi Malik who won a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics 2016. 
 

Meanwhile, Vinesh is yet to return to India and is staying in Paris. 
 

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