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Indian grappler Vinesh Phogat, who has been temporarily suspended by Wrestling Federation of India, sent the answer to the national federation. The 2018 Asian Games champion discredited WFI on the entirety of their charges apart from one – the wrong jersey she wore at the Tokyo Olympics.
Vidushpat Singhania, who is the overseeing alliance of Krida Legal, is the legal counsel addressing Vinesh Phogat against WFI.
“While the athlete deeply regrets not winning a medal, the athlete believes she has been wrongfully accused of misconduct and indiscipline at the Tokyo Olympic Games Village. The athlete respectfully refutes the allegations specified under the notice,” the lawyer said.
“We are only answering the three allegations levelled against her in the show-cause notice so we did not go into the details of other logistics regarding the Olympics. The ball is now in WFI’s court, we are now waiting for their response.” the lawyer wrote.
Charge 1: Refusing to stay with the Indian contingent in the village
“In order to follow all COVID-19 protocols, Vinesh was required to stay with athletes of India’s track and field contingent who had arrived before the wrestlers and completed their quarantine. The athlete did not stay separately from the Indian contingent, as even the athletics contingent was a part of the larger Indian contingent at the Tokyo Olympics 2020,” the reply stated.
Charge 2: Refusing to train with the Indian contingent
“In order to align timings with the physio, Vinesh shifted her training timings to merely an hour earlier than the scheduled training timings of the fellow Indian wrestlers, after obtaining permission from the head coach of the Indian wrestling contingent,” the reply for charge two stated.
Charge 3: Wearing the incorrect singlet during the match
The third charge of wearing the wrong singlet was not denied by her lawyer. He said it was ‘unintentional’. Vinesh donned a Nike jersey during her bout and she stated that her Indian jersey was not washed for the day of competition owing to prior circumstances.
“It is pertinent to mention that the athlete wore the official jersey for all training sessions at the Olympic village, including the training sessions of August 2-3-4. The athlete had been donning the full official kit at all times, even before her bout on 05.08.2021. The athlete, amidst all the chaos that was happening with her body, could not ensure if she was carrying the official jersey or not,” the reply said.
“The athlete humbly and unconditionally apologizes to WFI and IOA for not being able to wear the official jersey at her Olympic bout,” the reply concluded.
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