Zero chance of sabotage: Ex-hockey captain Viren Rasquinha on Vinesh’s disqualification

Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat suffered a heartbreak on Wednesday when the United World Wrestling (UWW), the international governing body for the sport, disqualified the 29-year-old from the final match against USA as she had breached the weight mark by 100 grams. PTI

A day after Indian grappler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified ahead of her gold medal bout in the 50-kg category at the Paris Olympics, former hockey captain Viren Rasquinha on Thursday cleared the air and said that there is "zero chance of sabotage" in the entire incident.

Phogat and the rest of the country woke up to a heartbreak on Wednesday when the United World Wrestling (UWW), the international governing body for the sport, disqualified the 29-year-old wrestler from the final match against USA as she had breached the weight mark by 100 grams.

Following her disqualification in the 50-kg wrestling event, several theories began floating around, with the Opposition accusing the government of foul play. Last year, Phogat along with some other wrestlers had protested against Brij Bhushan Singh, the then chief of the national wrestling body, over allegations of sexual harassment. Singh is a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Rasquinha said he was being continuously asked questions on social media over Phogat's disqualification and thought of answering some of them in his "personal capacity". Taking to Twitter, Rasquinha said Phogat had to lose 2.7kg in 12 hours as she had gained a few kilos even with a "tiny meal".

He also said that Phogat and her support staff "did everything" to ensure that the weight was brought under control but she "just missed the mark". The Olympian further stated that Phogat did not sleep the entire night and "pushed herself to limits to make the weight". Rasquinha also informed that the weight management could not have been planned in advance as constant weight control puts the wrestlers' health at severe risk and affects their training.

Amid speculations over whether the Wrestling Federation of India could have conveyed that Phogat was injured to play the match instead of admitting that she had breached the weight mark, Rasquinha said that such an injury would have to be approved by a certified tournament doctor and thus, that was not an option.

On Tuesday night, Phogat had scripted history by becoming the first Indian woman grappler to reach the gold medal bout in the 50 kg event after beating Cuba's Yusneylis Guzman Lopez 5-0 in the semi-finals.