Why was Iranian Sadegh Beit Sayah Disqualified as Navdeep Singh’s Silver Was Upgraded to

It all seemed as if India’s para-javelin thrower Navdeep Singh had to make peace with Silver after his Paralympic Record-breaking throw of 47.32m: that was until all hell broke loose. But, what happened?

The 23-year-old Indian para-athlete, who finished fourth in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, made a foul start in Paris, but in his second attempt he touched the distance of 46.39 m. In his third attempt, he broke the Paralympic record to take the No. 1 position, but Iran’s Sadegh Beit Sayah came up with a throw of 47.64 m in his fifth attempt to create a new Paralympic record and push the Indian star to the No. 2 position.

Singh’s personal best of 47.32 meters was the Paralympic record until the fifth throw round began. Then came the astonishing throw of Beit Sayah.

Just when he seemed to have the gold in his pocket, a shocker — Beit Sayah was disqualified from the competition for having violated the rules of the Paralympic Committee, thus declaring Navdeep the winner.

What had transpired was that the Iranian had received two yellow cards, according to to a violation of Rule 8.1 of the World Para Athletics Rules and Regulations (Code of Conduct and Ethics), and was hence, disqualified.

“World Para Athletics (WPA) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, ethics, and conduct in the sport of Para athletics. All participants in the sport, including athletes, coaches, officials, and administrators, have a responsibility to uphold these standards and ensure that the sport is conducted in a fair, honest, and transparent manner,” the 8.1 rule of World Para Athletics Rules and Regulations Code of Conducts stated.

While details reagarding why he was awarded the yellow cards and subsequently disqualified are yet to be disclosed, later, according to World Athletics, he was taken out of the competition on grounds of ‘unsporting conduct’.

While no proper reason has yet been confirmed, it has also been speculated that his disqualification may have to do with what spectators believe was the Iranian reaching for a black flag with Arabic text written in red colour during his contest, an act that can be deemed as unsportsmanlike/improper conduct.