New Delhi | The Indian Olympic Association has lodged a strong protest with the United World Wrestling over Vinesh Phogat's disqualification from the Olympics and Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked IOA chief P T Usha to take "appropriate action" in the matter, the government said on Wednesday.
In a statement in the Lok Sabha, Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the government had provided all possible assistance to Phogat according to her requirement which included personal staff.
Opposition parties such as the Congress, TMC and the Samajwadi Party expressed their dissatisfaction with the minister's reply and walked out from the House.
In his statement, Mandaviya said, "Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat has been disqualified from the Paris Olympics due to being overweight by 100 gm. Vinesh was playing in the 50 kg category and her weight had to be 50 kg for the competition. According to the rules and regulations of UWW (United World Wrestling), for all competitions, weigh-ins are organised every morning for the respective category."
"According to Article 11, 'If an athlete does not participate or fails in the weigh-in (first or second), they are disqualified from the competition and placed last without any rank," Mandaviya said.
On Wednesday, the weight for 50 kg women's wrestling was determined at 7:15 and 7:30 am for those participating in repechages and finals, he said, adding that Vinesh's weight was found to be 50 kg and 100 grammes.
"Therefore, she was declared ineligible for the competition," he said.
The IOA has lodged a "strong protest" with the world wrestling body over this matter, he said.
Also, Prime Minister Modi has asked IOA chief P T Usha, who is in Paris, to take "appropriate action" in the matter, the minister said.
Phogat became the first Indian female wrestler to reach the final of 50kg Olympics wrestling by winning three matches on Tuesday, he pointed out.
She defeated Cuban wrestler Yusneylis Guzman Lopez in the semi-finals, Oksana Livach of Ukraine in the quarter-final and world champion Yui Susaki of Japan in the pre-quarterfinal, Mandaviya said.
On August 7 night, Vinesh Phogat was to face American wrestler Sarah Ann Hildebrandt for the gold medal, the minister informed the House.
"As far as assistance for her preparation is concerned, the Government of India has provided all possible assistance to Vinesh Phogat as per her requirements," he said.
Personal staff has also been appointed for her who are experts in their respective fields, he said.
"Famous Hungarian coach Voler Akos and physio Ashwini Patil are always with her. Apart from that, financial assistance was provided for personal support staff like various sparring partners, strength and conditioning experts for the Olympics, the details of which are as follows: Coach Woller Akos, Coach; Strength and Conditioning Expert Wayne Lombard; Physiotherapist Ashwini Jeevan Patil; Strength and Conditioning Expert Mayank Singh Garia; Shubham and Arvind, sparring partners," he said.
Mandaviya said a total financial assistance of Rs 70,45,775 was given for the Paris Olympic cycle.
"The details of which are as follows: Financial assistance for participation in the Grand Prix of Spain, as well as additional financial assistance for the international training camp in Madrid, Spain, from July 3 to July 13, 2024 (10 days) was given. In addition, additional assistance for pre-Olympic training camp in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, was given," he said.
Financial assistance for participation in the 2024 United World Wrestling Second Ranking Series in Budapest, Hungary from June 6 to June 9 and in international training camp at Tata Olympic Centre, Hungary from June 10 to June 21 2024, has been given, Mandaviya said.
Financial aid was given for Strength and Conditioning Coach -- Wayne Lombard -- to attend the International Training Camp at Tata Olympic Center, Hungary from June 10 to June 21, 2024, the minister informed the House.
Financial assistance was also given for attending the 4th Ranking Series at Budapest, Hungary from July 13 to July 16, and for training camp at Budapest, Hungary from July 10-26, he said.
Mandaviya said financial aid was also given for training at Belmeken, Bulgaria from November 10, 2022 to December 3, 2022.
He said Rs 1,13,98,224 assistance was also given to Phogat for 2020 Tokyo Olympic Cycle while for the Paris Olympic Cycle a total of Rs 70,45,775 assistance was given -- TOPS (Target Olympic Podium Scheme) Rs 53,35,746 ACTC (Annual Training & Competition Calendar) Rs 17,10,029.
Some opposition leaders hit out at Mandaviya for detailing the financial assistance given to Phogat for her Olympic preparations.
Paris | The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Sanjay Singh on Wednesday demanded action against the support staff attached with Vinesh Phogat in the wake of her shock exit from the Paris Olympics, saying the blunder of not maintaining her weight before the final was not acceptable.
The Indian contingent woke up to the rude jolt of Vinesh's disqualification, hours before her gold medal bout against American Sarah Hildebrandt.
She was found overweight by 100 grams on day two of the weigh-in and resultantly disqualified.
Cuban wrestler Guzman Lopez Yusnelis, who had lost her semifinal to Vinesh, will now clash in the gold medal match against Hildebrandt.
Vinesh has been training with Woller Akos, her personal coach from Belgium and has also worked with South African mental conditioning coach Wayne Lombard.
“It is not a fault of Vinesh. She was performing amazingly. The coaches, the support staff, the physios and the nutritionists should take full responsibility,” Sanjay Singh told PTI.
“They should have paid attention to her all the time to ensure nothing of this sort happens. How this happened and how she went over the weight limit must be looked into.
“I request the Government of India to take action against all those responsible,” he said.
Vinesh had opted to train with Akos and the government of India had cleared his travel along with Vinesh for the Games.
Akos, like the Indian national coaches, was granted full-access accreditation.
It cannot be denied that Akos has played a key role in reshaping Vinesh's game.
He has been working with the star Indian wrestler since 2018, bringing in technical and tactical changes to her game. Vinesh has won two World Championship bronze medals with him.
That Vinesh was on top of her game was evident when she trumped unbeaten Yui Susaki, employing a strategy of playing a waiting game and executing a match-winning move in the dying moments of the match.
Sitting in Vinesh's corner, Akos was seen crying when she sealed her spot in the final.
The WFI President said the federation will allow only UWW certified coaches to train the Indian wrestlers, going forward.
“The Wrestling Federation of India will try their best to hire coaches who have cleared the level 1 and level two courses of the UWW.
“We will also ensure that the wrestlers practice with the coaches of WFI and officials of the UWW so that such episodes never happen ever again,” he said.
Asked specifically, will WFI allow personal coaches or not, Singh said, the matter will be discussed.
“The entire WFI committee will decide how to move forward with this matter.”
Singh said he is holding a meeting with IOA President PT Usha and they will approach UWW chief Nenad Lalovic to see if anything can be done.
“I spoke to the IOA (Indian Olympics Association) and the UWW (United World Wrestling) and I even sent letters, asking them to look into the matter and allow her to compete,” he said.
Later, the Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya made a statement in the Lok Sabha.
Mandaviya said the government had provided a financial assistance of Rs 70 lakh to Vinesh in the build-up to the Games for training and competitions abroad where she travelled with her support staff -- that included Akos, Lombard, Ashwini Jeevan Patil (Physio), Manyank Singh (mental conditioning expert), and Arvind (sparring partner).
They trained in Spain, France and Hungary.
The minister also said in the Tokyo Olympic cycle, she was provided financial assistance of more than Rs 1 crore 13 lakh.