How Indian men’s kabaddi team claimed Asian Games gold after refereeing farce, long suspension of final vs Iran | Asian-games News

The Indian men’s kabaddi team re-claimed the gold medal that they had lost at the Jakarta Asian Games to Iran after a final that saw an unprecedented stoppage of nearly an hour over the interpretation of rules. Both teams of players complained and there was a lot of arguing with the officials changing their decision at least three times in a farcical turn of events.
The incident happened when the teams were deadlocked at 28-28 with just over a minute left on the clock in the final. India skipper Pawan Sehrawat went in for a do-or-die raid (a raid where the raider needs to get a point or else will end up getting out) and while evading the advancing Iranian defence, he entered the lob (the strip on the right and left side of the playing area which gets activated only when a raider gets a touch on an opposition defender).
With Pawan straying into the lob, four other players also crossed over the lob with a fifth defender crossing the end line (the line marking the end of the playing area for each half).
Initially, the Iraqi referee officiating the game, Alghali Basim Raisan Mejbel, gave both teams one point each after consulting with other officials. This started a sequence of events that brought the final to a halt for an hour.
Why was the India versus Iran kabaddi final halted for an hour?
The fracas happened because of a dispute over the rulebook. In the old rules laid down the International Kabaddi Federation, the rule states that if a raider has strayed into the lob without being pushed out opposition defenders, any player who also enters the lob should be out. this version of the rule, Iran should have had an all out inflicted on them since Amirhossein Bastami had crossed the end line while his four teammates had strayed into the lob.
But the rule has been abolished in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL). The PKL rule says that once the raider crosses the line into the lob, the raid is over. If the new rule was in effect, then both teams should have had just one point each (Iran for Pawan and India for Bastami).
So in essence the dispute was about which interpretation of the rule was in effect. (It must be pointed out that even after the dispute raging on for an hour, the officials still got it wrong. Because if the old IKF was implemented fully, India should have earned five points rather than the three points they were bizarrely awarded after an hour-long hold up. This is for the four players entering the lob and Bastami crossing the end line).
But with the referee choosing to give just one point apiece, the Indians first protested. This led to the officials going into a huddle and after deliberations, they went over to the screen to watch replays. After this, they decided India should get four points instead of one. This set off angry protestations from the Iranians, who argued with the Iraqi referee.
Once again, there was a delay. Once again more reviews were watched. This time, the referee went back to his initial decision, giving India just one point.
At this stage, the Indian players sat on the mat in protest while the Iranians stood waiting for the game to begin. Most Read
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At some point, an official from the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India turned up. At another time, there was an Iranian federation official protesting the decision.
Finally, the officials awarded India three points and Iran one point so the game restarted with the scores reading 31-29 in favour of India.
Iran had just the one player on the mat and were able to inflict an all out, before strolling home to a gold medal with a 33-29 margin.