New Delhi: The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has extended the deadline to deliver a verdict on the Vinesh Phogat appeal for shared silver by 72 hours.
As the entire country waited eagerly for some good news on Saturday evening, the minutes ticked by and just past the designated deadline set by CAS — 9.30 pm IST on Saturday — elapsed, CAS made it known that it has extended time till August 13, 9.30 pm (IST) for Sole Arbitrator Hon. Dr Annabelle Bennett to issue a decision on Vinesh Phogat vs United World Wrestling (UWW) & the International Olympic Committee (IOC) matter.
According to RevSportz, CAS has given both parties time till August 11, 9.30 pm (IST) to provide additional documentation and answer a few questions.
The Paris Olympics end on Sunday, with the closing ceremony scheduled in the evening. Hence, a decision on whether Vinesh and India get a seventh medal will only be known two days after the end of the 2024 Games.
Vinesh was disqualified from the Women’s 50kg Freestyle event on August 7 after being found to be 100 grams above permissible weight on the morning of her final bout.
There wasn’t enough time for CAS to entertain Vinesh’s initial application challenging the decision of UWW to replace her with the beaten semifinalist for the final bout. But CAS did agree to hear Vinesh’s appeal to grant her shared silver medal in the Women’s 50kg freestyle event.
The hearing took place for about three hours on Friday, with Vinesh being represented by senior advocate Harish Salve.
CAS first said it will issue a decision on the matter before the Paris Olympics end on August 11. Then it stated that the verdict deadline will be out on August 10, by 9.30 pm (IST). And now, CAS has pushed back the deadline by 3 days to August 13, by which time all athletes and officials would have returned home.
The chances of a ‘miracle’ medal for Vinesh seem to be diminishing rapidly.