Vinesh claims coach’s status for Oly qualifiers unclear, SAI says proposal cleared

Wrestler vin es hp hog at has said her bid to qualify for the Paris Olympics was being scuppered because accreditations had not been obtained yet for her personal coach and phys io for the Asian Olympic qualifying tournament in Bishkek later this month. vin es his aimingfor an olympic quota in the 50 kg category.

Vinesh posted on X that, "despite repeated requests I am not getting any concrete answer from anywhere." "The Asian Olympic qualifying tournament is going to start on 19th April. For the past one month,i have been requesting the government o find ia(sai, tops) for the accreditation of my coach and phys io to accompany me to the competition area. But despite repeated requests, i am not getting any concrete answer from anywhere. No one is ready to help," Vinesh posted.

In a statement, the sports authority of india said there had been no written request from Vinesh for accreditation but the Mission Olympic Cell (MOC) on April 4 had approved a proposal received the previous day from vine sh for her coach, physio and sparring partner to travel to bishkek. submission of entries on time was the responsibility of thewfi, the statement mentioned.

The last date for submission of entries set by the United World Wrestling was March 21. A source said Vinesh had emailed the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) and the now disbanded ad-hoc committee on March 18. "There hasn't been any written request from Vinesh regarding the accreditation. MOC in its meeting dated April 4 approved the proposal received from Vin es hon April 3 for being accompaniedby–ash win ipatil( phys io),wo ll er Ak os( coach ), arvindk um ar(s parring partner) — for the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Kyrgyzstan starting from April 19. It may be noted that the last date for submission of entries was March 21 and any modification can bed one upon the request by the wfitouww ," the SAI statement said.

Awfi official said that the indian team travellingto bishkek comprised one female phys io and two male phys i os, three coaches for men' s freestyle, three for Greco-roman and three for women. the official confirmed that as on friday, Vinesh's coach, physio and sparring partner were not part of the official team.

"There are six women wrestlers from india for the Asian Olympic qualifying competition and one phys io. why should only one wrestler travel with a personal physio or coach? Moreover, the WFI had sent the entries after getting it vetted bysaiandt he sports ministry ," the official claimed. However, SAI said WFI did not share the list of wrestlers and support staff.

"WFI being a NSF (National Sports Federation ), directly forwards/ submits the entry of athletes through UWW portal' Athena' and therefore, no list was shared before the submission of the entries.the last date for the submission of entries by a no cw as march 21 while WFI sent the proposal for financial assistance towards the same on march 22 and revised proposal on April 1. The sanction for the tournamentwas issued by said at ed april 3 while the proposal from vin es hp hog at was received the same day. However, as the first proposal was sent by WFI to SAI on March 22 and by Vinesh Phogat on April 3, the entries would have already been submitted by WFI on the UWW portal given the last date was March 21... The selection of the athletes, coaches and support staff for any international tournament is done by the NSF," the SAI statement added.