Vinesh Phogat Disqualification: Rules Are Rules, Impossible To Give Her Medal, Says World Wrestling Body Chief

New Delhi: United World Wrestling (UWW) president Nenad Lalovic was sad about the unfortunate disqualification of Vinesh Phogat, India’s first female wrestler to qualify for an Olympic final, but said that rules have got to be respected.

Vinesh had knocked out reigning Olympic champion Yui Susaki of Japan in the round of 16, ousted Ukraine’s Oksana Livach in the quarterfinals and then overcome Cuba’s Lopez Guzman – all in a day’s work on Tuesday — to storm into Wednesday’s 50 kg freestyle gold-medal round against American Sarah Ann Hildebrandt.

Though she had weighed in fine before her bouts on Tuesday, Vinesh was found to be merely 100 grams overweight on the morning of the final and hence disqualified from the competition.

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) did register a protest with UWW over Vinesh’s disqualification, but that won’t work with the sport’s governing body.

“We have to respect the rules. I’m so sad about what happened to her. She was overweight by a very small margin. But the rules are rules, and everything is public. All the athletes are there and it’s impossible to let someone compete who does not make the weight,” Nenad Lalovic told India Today.

“Impossible to give her the medal because she reached the final… Impossible. Because the brackets are changing, everything is changing. And anyway, the rules are rules. There has been an appeal but I don’t see anything that can be done. The competition continues, and I really don’t see that it is possible,” Lalovic opined, ruling out Vinesh’s possible date with history when she was assured of a silver, if not gold.

Also Read: ‘You Are A Champion Among Champions:’ PM Narendra Modi Reacts To Vinesh Phogat’s Disqualification