NEW DELHI: Amid Vinesh Phogat‘s disqualification row at the Paris Olympics, legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar on Friday put his weight behind the wrestler, saying she definitely deserves a silver medal.
In a shocking turn of events on Wednesday, the 29-year-old grappler was disqualified for being 100gm overweight ahead of her 50kg category gold medal bout at the Olympics.
A day later, a crestfallen Vinesh announced her retirement from international wrestling, saying that she doesn’t have the strength to continue anymore.
In a social media post on Friday, Sachin said that Vinesh’s journey to the finals was fair and square and hoped that the wrestler gets what she deserves.
“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,” Sachin said in a statement.
“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,” the statement read.

Vinesh has appealed the disqualification decision at the sports’ highest court — Court of Arbitration for Sport — asking to award her a shared silver.
The hearing on Vinesh’s appeal is being held in Paris and the decision is “expected to be issued before the end of the Olympic Games.