Brawl at wrestling trials takes a new turn but WFI sticks to old guard-Sports News , Firstpost

As per a video going viral on social media, Jagbir Singh was the first to ‘push’ now-banned wrestler Satender Malik. Twitter/Firoz Mirza (screengrab)

A day after wrestler Satender Malik was banned for a lifetime by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) for alleged physical assault on senior referee Jagbir Singh, a video of the incident started making the rounds on social media which allegedly shows the referee was the first to raise his hands.

To those unversed, the incident happened at the KD Jadhav Hall of the IG Stadium during Commonwealth Games and World Championship trials when a controversial decision taken by the referee during the 125kg final turned into a brawl. Satender, who was leading 3-0 at that time with 18 seconds to go, was pinned into a move called take down by rival Mohit Grewal, who also forced him out of the mat.

However, the mat referee Virender Malik granted Mohit just a point as he was uncertain on the move. Mohit then requested a video referral and it went in favour of the wrestler, who held the remaining seconds of the bout to win by the virtue of taking the last points.

As per the statement given by Jagbir a day before, the referee was taken aback when Satender approached him and used cuss words before slapping and punching him.

However, the social media video, taken from a distance by a spectator during the 67kg final bout, shows Satender approaching the referee, who was busy officiating the match, and then leaning towards him to say something. Whatever the grappler said didn’t sit well with Jagbir as he appeared to slap the wrestler soon after. The situation then immediately broke into a fistfight with the 125kg-category wrestler landing some heavy blows on the senior official.

Speaking to Firstpost, Jagbir clarified that he never slapped the wrestler but instead pushed him in anger after Satender said something untoward his daughter.

“I will clarify again that I wasn’t expecting such behaviour from Satender as I have known him for 15 years,” said the referee. “I never slapped him as it appears in the video but pushed him after he said something unpleasant about my daughter.”

It’s worth pointing out that the referee then went on to complete his job of officiating the 67kg final, followed by two more finals while Satender was not seen at the venue after the brawl and is believed to have absconded the stadium. The referee confirmed that he has already given his statement to the police regarding the incident and an FIR has been lodged.

Meanwhile, WFI has confirmed that no further action will be taken and their decision of a lifetime ban on the wrestler stays with no further hearing possible.

“WFI’s decision is final,” said federation’s assistant secretary Vinod Tomar. “The wrestler was out of line to approach a senior official like that. We have seen the video and although there’s no audio of what the wrestler said, no person will raise his hand until something very unpleasant has been said. The selection committee was present at the venue they saw what happened and the lifetime ban will stay with no further hearing.”

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