‘Conspiracy Against India’: Vijender Singh Calls for ‘Strong Protest’ Against Vinesh

Former Indian boxer and 2008 Olympic medallist Vijender Singh has strongly reacted to Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification from the 50kg women’s freestyle final. In an exclusive conversation with CNN-News18, Singh called it a ‘conspiracy’ against the Indian contingent at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2023.

Vinesh, who became the first Indian woman athlete to qualify for an Olympic wrestling final, was disqualified on Wednesday from the Olympics after being found overweight ahead of her gold medal match. She was assured of at least a silver medal but will now return empty-handed due to the disqualification.

Reacting to Vinesh’s disqualification, Singh said he had never seen or heard of anything that happened with the Indian wrestler in Paris.

“The situation is very tense. How can this happen? In such a long Olympic career, we have never heard or seen anything like this. 140 crore people were waiting for the gold medal today. At first, I thought it was fake news. This is a conspiracy against India, a very harsh decision,” Vijender Singh told CNN-News18 in an exclusive conversation.

Singh further said the Indian contingent in Paris should retaliate and withdraw from the ongoing games.

“We need to raise objections and protest and should pack our bags and come back to India, maybe then they will realise. How can she go ahead and eat when she knows that she is this close to winning a medal?

“She has already participated in 3 Olympics. it’s a very hard decision taken by authorities against her. My whole family was happy that a girl from our Bhiwani would get a medal. She was, is and will be our hero always,” he concluded.

The 29-year-old had taken down defending champion Yui Susaki of Japan en route the finals on Tuesday in a remarkable performance and was to face American Sarah Ann Hildebrandt in the summit bout this evening.

Hers was not the only weight-related disqualification in the 50kg category. On Tuesday, Italy’s Emanuela Liuzzi was also forced to forfeit her preliminary bout after being found overweight.

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