Ref: CAS OG 24/17
Vinesh Phogat v. United World Wrestling & the International Olympic
Committee (IOC)
In the matter referenced above, I seek to make a submission for
your consideration as under.
It
is my intention not as much to seek a legal remedy, but to urge you to uphold
the spirit of Olympism and the original values[1]
expressed in the Olympic Charter to “encourage effort”, “preserve human
dignity” and “develop harmony”.
I
make this submission inspired by the concept of Olympism which in the words of
the International Olympic Commission, “seeks to create a way of life based on
the joy found in effort, the educational value of good example and respect for
universal fundamental ethical principles.”[2]
When
making a determination on the matter, I urge you to take a course of action
that will uphold the Olympic spirit.
1.
I do
not contest the right of United World Wrestling to frame rules that obtain
today and whose mechanical interpretation has led to the situation that is
before you today. But I do submit that when rules create conditions that can
lead to the violation of Olympism, the IOC has not just the right but an
obligation to intervene.
2.
It is
my submission that the rules of the competition as enunciated and administered by
the United World Wrestling do not help preserve human dignity, a value enshrined
in the Olympic Charter. I draw your attention to media reports[3]
about the extreme efforts taken by the Indian athlete to conform, from having
her hair cut, to starving herself of food and water and even having her blood
drawn in order to reach the cut off weight. The rules as framed encourage an
athlete to go to extremes bordering on a threat to their own lives.
3.
I
accept that it is important to have a mechanism in place to verify that athletes
play by the rules and for that a weighing system must be in place. Apart from
reasons of administrative convenience to help organisers, I see no reason why
the UWW[4]
should prescribe that the weigh in should happen in the morning. In Paris, I am
told that the weigh in happened at 730 am even when a bout may have been scheduled
for much later in the day. I see no reason why individual athletes cannot have
the flexibility to weigh in at a time of their choice even if it is just before
the start of a bout.
4.
According
to the rules[5]
of the UWW, the weigh-in window is for 30 minutes on day one and 15 min on day
two. This too looks like a rule made to
suit administrative convenience. Media reports suggest that if the Indian
athlete had been given some more time, she would have been within the range. If
by simply changing the way a rule is administered, the outcome changes, that
alone is enough to question the rule ab initio.
5.
Until
not long ago, the wrestling competition was just a day long. Then the field
expanded and with that a two day competition became necessary. With 3 bouts on
day one, post bout nourishment takes on
additional importance. If the tournament had been spread over 3 days instead of
2, for example, nourishment would be dealt with in a manner which makes weight
management easier. If by tinkering with scheduling, weight management for athletes
becomes easier, surely the rule gets called into question.
6.
It is
to the credit of the Indian athlete that she did not resort to gaming the
system which would really have gone against the Olympic spirit. If she had
allowed the permitted 400 ml of blood to be drawn from her body, her weight would
have dropped by 400 g and she would have made the cut. If after this, she had
forefeited her match for reasons of not feeling up to it, she would have received
the silver medal. But she did not do so, her staff did not do so.
Before
I close my arguments, let me draw your attention to one of the core principles
of criminal justice. “Let the punishment
fit the crime,” said Cicero in De Legibus in 106 BCE. I submit
that the Olympic movement would be sullied for now and forever if the Indian
athlete who committed no crime is punished so, when at the same Olympics a team
which violated the Olympic spirt and has a record of doing so more than once managed
to escape with a mere rap on the knuckles. The whole world is aware of the incident
when a country deployed drones to spy on the competition. All that happened to
them was the a couple of people got suspended and the team go docked a few
points. The Indian athlete who would have been allowed to participate if the
rules had been administered a little differently now has to live with a blot on
her career for as long as she lives. Is this far? I am not asking that the team
that committed the crime of the worst order, of defiling all that the Olympic
stands for or the country which did so should be handed down the equivalent of
a death sentence. I am only saying that it smacks of an arbitrariness which I hope
your conscience will stand in the way of.
I
thank you for your attention. I trust that when you sit down to write your
order, you will be fair and also be seen to be fair.
[1] https://olympics.com/ioc/olympic-values
[2] https://olympics.com/ioc/olympic-values
[3] https://www.hindustantimes.com/sports/olympics/vinesh-phogat-cut-hair-drew-out-blood-didnt-sleep-or-drink-water-to-reduce-excess-weight-but-nothing-worked-reports-101723021347177.html
[4] https://cdn.uww.org/2023-01/wrestling_rules.pdf
[5] https://cdn.uww.org/2023-01/wrestling_rules.pdf
