Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly has extended his support to wrestler Vinesh Phogat, stating that she deserved at least a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

His comments come in the wake of Phogat's contentious disqualification from the gold medal match, which has triggered a debate.

Sharing his two cents on this matter, Ganguly, known for his candid opinions, told media, "I don't know the exact rule, but I'm sure that when she reached the finals, she must have qualified properly.”

He added, “So when you go to the finals, it's either a Gold or Silver medal. Whether she was disqualified wrongfully or not, I don't know, but she deserves the silver medal at least.”

Notably, Phogat was found 100 grams heavier on the morning of her final bout against USA’s Sarah Hildebrandt and thus was disqualified from the women’s freestyle 50kg wrestling.

After her shocking exit, the Indian Olympic Association is trying best to get the wrestler her deserving silver medal as Vinesh made an appeal in Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to challenge her disqualification.

Vinesh Phogat's plea was heard by a Sole Arbitrator Hon. Dr Annabelle Bennett in Paris on Saturday (August 10). The hearing lasted three hours, with senior counsels Harish Salve and Vidushpat Singhania representing the Indian athlete.

The CAS has extended time till Aug 13, 9:30 PM (IST) to issue a verdict on Phogat’s plea. Vinesh’s legal team argued that her weight gain was due to the body's natural recovery process and that it is the athlete's fundamental right to look after his/her body.

They also stated that her body weight was under the prescribed limit on Day 1 of the competition, and the weight gain only happened because of recovery and that's not a fraud.