Akhilesh: IOA's statement on Phogat 'reprehensible', can 'break morale'

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday, 12 August, attacked the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) over its president's remarks regarding wrestler Vinesh Phogat's disqualification from the Olympics.

In a veiled attack on the Narendra Modi government, Yadav also said that if there was an Olympics for political conspiracy, those in power at the Centre would win without competing.

Phogat, 29, was disqualified at the Paris Olympics for being 100 gm overweight ahead of her women's 50 kg final bout on 7 August. She filed an appeal against her disqualification and a decision on it is expected to come on Tuesday.

Drawing criticism for Phogat's weigh-in fiasco, IOA president P.T. Usha on Sunday made it clear that it is the responsibility of the athlete to manage their weight and the attack on its medical team was "unacceptable and worthy of condemnation".

In a post in Hindi on X, Yadav said, "The statement of the Indian Olympic Association about the great warrior Vinesh Phogat that the responsibility of the weight and body of the player lies only with her coach and support team is reprehensible.

"Is the Indian Olympic Association pointing a finger at the support team along with the coach? These people are also associated with the association. The question also arises as to who selected the support team. People are asking if the responsibility was only of those people, then why was the chief medical officer sent along," Yadav said.

Yadav, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister, asserted that such statements can break the morale of the athletes, especially those who have struggled to reach the Olympics, their coaches and the support team.

Yadav said the statement was no less than the injustice meted out to the "country's daughter Vinesh Phogat" at the Olympics.

"People of the country are watching and they understand everything. The country should at least bear the responsibility of the person on whose shoulders the responsibility of the country lies," he said.

"If there was an Olympics for political conspiracy, today's rulers would win without playing," he said without taking any names.

Yadav also tagged Phogat in the post.