Referee assaulted, wrestler banned as heat gets to everyone in CWG trials

After Satender Malik lost his 125kg final, the Haryana athlete walked across the mat and allegedly hurled expletives at senior referee Jagbir Singh before hitting him in the face. The incident, which took place right in front of the podium where Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh was seated, forced the WFI to impose a life ban on Satender.

“It happened right in front of me. We will obviously take serious action. Just wait,” said Singh as he stormed out of the hall immediately after the bout.

Within hours of the incident, WFI confirmed that Satender had been handed a life ban as decided by a committee meeting post the incident. “We had a quick committee meeting and it was decided to hand him a life ban. It happened right in front of us and the athlete’s behaviour was clearly unacceptable. We have imposed a life ban on him and hope this will deter other athletes from crossing the line in the future. Such behaviour will not be tolerated,” WFI secretary Vinod Tomar told this paper.

Satender’s final bout against Mohit was going on smoothly until Mohit managed a takedown and pushed his opponent outside the mat with just 18 seconds left on the clock. The officials did not award Mohit points for the takedown that prompted the wrestler to raise a challenge. Until then, referee Jagbir, who was assaulted by Satender, was nowhere in the picture.

Referee Jagbir Singh (Pic: Andrew Amsan)

“I was not even watching this bout but was requested to check the replay as the jury for the bout Satyadev Malik had stepped aside as he was from Satender’s village and felt it could be a conflict of interest,” explained Jagbir.

Jagbir ruled in favour of Mohit and the latter was awarded three points changing the score to 3-3 which was also the final result. Since the last point was scored by Mohit, Satender lost the bout and a chance to board the flight to Birmingham. Incensed by the outcome, he marched toward Jagbir and assaulted him while Tokyo silver medallist Ravi Dahiya was in action on the first mat. Officials rushed in and defused the situation but the incident became the talking point of the event.

“I am a category one senior official. I have seen even Olympic wrestlers gracefully accept decisions but this was shocking. Never in my career have I faced this. I feel deeply hurt that he hurled abuses at me and hit me in front of everyone for just doing my duty,” said a visibly flustered Jagbir. “The (WFI) president has also asked me to file an FIR.”

Tomar later said that an FIR had indeed been registered at IP Estate police station.

Oppressive conditions

The wrestlers and hundreds of fans present at the venue had to bear the intense heat and humidity as the air conditioners were not functioning. Two rows of lights were also turned off to reduce the heat. Wrestlers could be seen sweating bucketloads during their bouts and it also affected their performance.

“It was very humid and I was sweating profusely. I didn’t play very aggressively because there was a risk of slipping and getting hurt due to all the sweat,” said Bajrang as he cooled down after his final bout. The officials played the blame game over air conditioning as athletes had no choice but to literally sweat it out.

There was more drama in the wrestling hall as Delhi police cops were called in by stadium officials to inspect damage to walls by Vishal Kalliraman, who narrowly lost the 65kg berth to Olympic bronze medallist Bajrang. Kalliraman, who lost the final 1-2, immediately broke down after his bout. In a fit of rage, he landed punches on the dry walls of the wrestling hall leaving gaping holes. “He didn’t stop there. He went to the basketball hall and kicked the wall there too,” said a stadium security staff member pointing out the damage.