Tendulkar praises sports ethics of Vinesh Phogat, advocates for silver medal at Olympics
Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar expressed solidarity with Vinesh Phogat who was disqualified from Olympics wrestling finals event, a few hours before the finals. He took to X, on Friday, to call the situation an 'umpire's call' and demanded Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), a sports dispute court based in Lausanne, Switzerland, that she be handed over a silver medal.
"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", he said in the post.
Stressing on her unblemished sportsmanship throughout the event, Tendulkar said that disqualification of an athlete was acceptable only if he or she had breached sports ethics by any unacceptable behavior like usage of performance enhancing drugs. "In that case, to not be awarded any medal and be placed last would be justifiable. However, Vinesh bet her opponents fairly to reach the top two. She definitely deserves a silver medal", he said. Tendulkar also solicited prayers for Vineesh Phogat to get the recognition she deserves, while awaiting the verdict of the CAS.
After defeating previous Olympics champion Yui Susaki of Japan, Phoghat was scheduled to fight US wrestler Sarah Hildebrandt in her last match on Wednesday. However, she was denied the chance for being 100g overweight for the 50 kg category in which she fought.
#VineshPhogat #Paris2024 #Olympics @WeAreTeamIndia pic.twitter.com/LKL4mFlLQq
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) August 9, 2024
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
