“I’m sorry for what happened, but we have to follow the rules,” the World Wrestling Federation president told NDTV

As India waits for the outcome of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) case against wrestler Vinesh Bogut, United World Wrestling president Nenad Lalovic has offered an important insight into the whole weight controversy. In an exclusive chat with NDTV, Lalovich expressed his condolences over Vinesh’s exclusion from the Paris Olympics on the morning of his gold medal match. Vinesh weighed just 100 grams for 50 kg to qualify for the finals. However, the girl had to be expelled.

Vinesh decided to file an appeal with CAS, the results of which have not yet been received, but the UWW president does not think there is much chance of changing the results, since the wrestling association only follows the established rules.

“I’m really sorry for what happened, but no matter how big the country is, an athlete is an athlete. It was a public deliberation and everyone saw what happened. How can you let someone compete while we’re all watching, right?” “We won’t do that, we have no choice but to follow our own rules.”

We introduced this rule to keep the health of our athletes in mind. Athletes are required to adhere to weight rules in order to compete. He is completely against any changes.

Gold, silver and bronze medals in women’s 50kg wrestling have already been awarded, but Vinesh was in the running for a joint silver medal as she had already qualified for the final after passing the weight test.

Although he is not ready to give up a second silver medal, Vinesh and those fighting for him are not giving up hope.