By IANS,
New Delhi: Australian wrestler Hassene Fkiri was disqualified for obscene gestures and unsporting behaviour during his gold-medal bout against India’s Anil Kumar in the 96kg Greco-Roman style at the Commonwealth Games here Tuesday.
Fkiri, who would have picked up a silver medal after losing to Anil Kumar,was thus denied the silver medal.
Fkiri refused to shake hands with Anil after the bout and showed middle finger to officials after the rough bout.
During the bout, the Australian was cautioned twice, once for headbutting and then for slapping the Indian. Fkiri was booed by the crowd and later disqualified by the referee for indiscipline.
Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president G.S. Mander said the decision of technical bench to disqualify the wrestler and strip him of his medal was justified.
“It was a right decision. In any case it would not have affected our medal. We have to see that the sport is played fairly. The opponent was cautioned by the referee and then after the match he did not shake hands with the Anil and the referee,” he said.
Australian coach Kuldi Bass, however, said that he didn’t see what happened.
“I didn’t see anything so can’t tell much about it. Someone else told me he saw it. Fkiri is a very nice person normally. He’s very good, win or lose,” said Bass.
“The Indian (Kumar) upset him a bit and was pulling his neck. I told him that was what was going to happen and I think he just lost control. It’s very sad and it’s bad for the country,” he added.