Wrestler Satender Malik gets life ban for assaulting referee

Vinayak Padmadeo

New Delhi, 17 May

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has banned wrestler Satender Malik for life after he assaulted senior referee Jagbir Singh after losing the final match of the 125kg category at the ongoing trials for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

With Malik leading 3-0 against Mohit Grewal with 18 seconds to go in the bout, Grewal pulled off a takedown move and also forced Malik out of the mat for a push-out point. However, mat referee Virender Malik awarded Grewal only one point for the push-out, prompting Grewal’s corner to call for a challenge.

The jury for the bout was Satyadev Malik, who recused himself as he and Malik both belong to Mokhra village. So, Jagbir was called to decide on the challenge. Initially, he only awarded Grewal one additional point. On further insistence from Grewal’s corner, Jagbir awarded him one more point. With the bout now tied at 3-3, Grewal was declared the winner on criteria points as he was the last one to score a point.

Annoyed with the decision, the burly Malik then walked up to Jagbir and began cussing before punching and slapping him.

The incident halted the final match of the 57kg category between Ravi Dahiya and Aman, which was in progress at the time at an adjacent mat.

Following the ugly scenes, Malik was asked to leave the KD Jadhav Hall even as all the referees mobbed WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to voice their concerns. He assured them of necessary action, after which the bouts resumed.

“We have taken a decision to ban him. We cannot ignore such indiscipline,” Singh later revealed. “I am told that Jagbir is filing an FIR against the wrestler as well.”

Satyadev Malik said this was a bad incident, one that should never ever take place. “He shouldn’t have acted in this manner. Such incidents only spoil the reputation of the game,” he said. “There was a delay in deciding the challenge but Jagbir dealt with it very well. There was no need for this violence.”

Ravi, Bajrang sail through

Olympics medallists Ravi Dahiya and Bajrang Punia easily won their final bouts to secure their CWG Birmingham ticket. Punia beat Vishal Kaliraman 2-1 to win the final of the 65kg class. In his previous bout, he had beaten Sujeet 4-0. “I will soon be back to my best,” Punia, who has been accused of wrestling in a defensive manner of late, said after the bout.

In the 57kg section, Dahiya showed his class as he beat Vijay by technical superiority in the final.

However, the big talking point was Naveen’s emergence in the 74kg weight category. Naveen beat Gaurav Baliyan by technical superiority. Baliyan had won the silver in the 79kg class at the Asian Championships.

In the 86kg category, Deepak Punia won 4-3 against Vicky to seal his spot.

Seasoned pros Mausam Khatri and Satyawart Kadian missed out as Deepak won big in the 97kg category. He beat Sahil Ahlawat to book his berth.