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

With Pawan straying into the lobby, four other players also crossed over the lobby 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 by the International Kabaddi Federation, the rule states that if a raider has strayed into the lobby without being pushed out by opposition defenders, any player who also enters the lobby should be out. By 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 lobby.

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 lobby, 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 lobby 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 by waiting for the game to begin.

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.