Lawyer Harish Salve's big claim on Paris Olympics: 'Wrestler Vinesh Phogat didn't want to…'

Top lawyer Harish Salve has claimed that Vinesh Phogat did not want to challenge the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which disqualified her from the women's 50kg freestyle final at the Paris Olympics 2024 on August 7.

Harish Salve's statement is in contrast to allegations by Vinesh Phogat, who stated that she had no support from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), and that her lawyers had been lenient on the judgment that disqualified her, due to which she couldn't get a medal.

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Harish Salve had represented Vinesh Phogat in the international court on behalf of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) in her plea to get a joint-silver medal. However, they lost the plea and Vinesh Phogat had to return without a medal.

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In an interview, Harish Salve told TimesNow that Vinesh Phogat had not wanted to challenged the decision taken by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) even though he had offered.

“Later on, we got everything and we fought hard. In fact, I even offered the lady that maybe we can challenge it in the Swiss court of appeal against the arbitration award but I was told by the lawyers that my impression is she didn’t want to carry this any further,” the lawyer said.

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Harish Salve also alleged that there was a lack of coordination on the end of Vinesh Phogat's lawyers.

“That’s because the very good law firm which had been engaged by the Indian Olympic Association was told by some lawyers who the athlete had engaged that ‘we will not share anything with you, we will not give anything to you," he added.

Vinsh Phogat was disqualified from the final of the women's freestyle wrestling during the Paris Olympics, 2024 for being 100 grams overweight in the 50 kg category.

Vinesh Phogat declared her retirement from the sport after the event. Recently, she joined the Congress party, which fielded her from the Julana seat in the upcoming Haryana assembly election.