She deserves silver medal: Sachin Tendulkar backs Vinesh Phogat's appeal against Olympics disqualification

"Time for an Umpire's Call! Every sport has rules and those rules need to be seen in context, maybe even revisited at times. Vinesh Phogat qualified fair and square for the finals. Her disqualification by weight, was before the finals, and hence, for her to be robbed of a deserving silver medal defies logic and sporting sense," Sachin's post read.

"It would have been understandable if an athlete were to have been disqualified for ethical breaches such as the usage of performance enhancing drugs. In that case, to not be awarded any medal and be placed last would be justifiable. However, Vinesh beat her opponents fairly to reach the top two. She definitely deserves a silver medal. While we all wait for a verdict from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, let us hope and pray that Vinesh gets the recognition she deserves," the post read further.

This comes after Vinesh has appealed against her disqualification and filed a plea for silver in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS).

The verdict on Vinesh is expected to come before the end of the Paris Olympics.

Meanwhile, she announced her retirement from the sport - a decision that seemed to be an emotional one.

On Friday, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said he has a 'certain understanding' for Vinesh Phogat, who has challenged her disqualification from the Olympic finals in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

He also wondered where would one draw the line after allowing small concessions in certain situations.

"I must say, I have a certain understanding for the wrestler; it's clearly a human touch," said Bach, during an IOC media conference here.

"Now, it's (appeal) in CAS. We will, at the end, follow the CAS decision. But, again, the international (wrestling) federation, they have to apply their interpretation, their rules. This is their responsibility," he added.

Asked if two silver medals could be awarded in a weight category, Bach said, "No, if you ask in such a general way. But allow me to comment on this individual case.

"There the regulations of the international federation have to be followed and the international federation, United World Wrestling (UWW), was taking this decision."

Bach said a 100gm overweight may not sound much to a layman but asked would such a relaxation would apply to a track event where results are sometimes decided by one thousandth of a second.

"Looking at the federation or anybody to take such a decision, when and where do you make the cut? Do you say with 100gms, we give it but with 102(gms), we don't give it anymore?

"What do you do then in sports where you have differences of one-thousandths of a second (in track events). Do you also then apply such deliberations?," he added.

Vinesh, who was competing in the 50 kg freestyle wrestling category, was disqualified on Wednesday for crossing the weight limit by 100 gm.

Though she normally competes in the 53 kg category, Vinesh brought down her weight to 50 kg for the Olympics.

Also read:Vinesh Phogat retires after Paris Olympics disqualification, says 'I have no more strength'

As per reports, Vinesh skipped meals, trained hard and spent sleepless nights to fit in the criteria.

The efforts went in vain after the Olympic Committee refused to give more time to Vinesh despite requests from the Indian officials.

She was disqualified on the second day of weigh-in.