Abused, pushed, slapped: Wrestler attacks referee at CWG trials, banned for life

Commonwealth Games (CWG) here on Tuesday, when Haryana wrestler Satender Malik – representing Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) – abused and punched international referee Jagbir Singh in front of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and other office-bearers after losing his final bout in the men’s freestyle 125kg category to compatriot MohitGrewal in a controversial fashion. As a result of Satender’s indiscretion, the WFI chief banned him for life from all wrestling-related activities, while a case of physical assault and manhandling was registered against the wrestler by Jagbir at the IP Extension police station. The police team, later, visited the KD Jadhav Indoor wrestling hall – the venue for the trials – at the IGI stadium and recorded the statements of coaches and WFI officials for further investigation into the matter. After hitting the referee, Satender immediately left the venue with his supporters while Jagbir was comforted by fellow referees and coaches.

The incident occurred when Satender was leading Mohit 3-0 in the second and final period of the bout, with 18 seconds remaining on the clock. Mohit challenged a move by Satender which was rejected and a point for unsuccessful protest was added to Satender’s tally (4-0). However, Mohit’s team persisted with the challenge and it was referred to Satyadev Malik, the chairman of the Jury of Appeals. Since Satender belonged to his village Mokhra, Satyadev requested mat chairman Sanjay Kumar to refer the challenge to some other referee judge to avoid ‘conflict of interest’ charge. Kumar then turned to Jagbir to watch the footage of the move challenged and make his decision. Jagbir, at that time, was judging the final bouts