Wrestling Coach Expelled From Tokyo Olympics For Assaulting Referee After Player Lost Match

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) nearly faced disciplinary action following the incident involving one of its coaches. 41-year-old Murad Guidarov was expelled from the Tokyo Olympics following his irresponsible action.

On Thursday, August 5 India’s 22-year-old wrestler Deepak Punia lost the 86kg freestyle bronze medal bout against San Marino's Myles Nazim Amine. While leading 2-1 the younger wrestler lost after Amine scored two crucial points in the last moments of the bout.

This did not go down well with the Russian assistant coach of the Indian wrestling team. Guidarov targeted one of the referees of the match. He assaulted him once the match was over.

Following the incident, the world wrestling body (FILA) reported it to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the WFI. An urgent disciplinary hearing was held on Friday, August 6. According to Firstpost the Indian wrestling federation nearly escaped a ban. The WFI had assigned Guidarov as a coach to the 2018 Junior World Champion. Punia had been training under him for nearly a year.

Representatives of the WFI explained that the Indian coaches were well behaved. The actions of the foreign coach do not affect the federation. It was announced that the assistant coach had been sacked by the Indian federation.

The federation also took the call to withdraw Guidarov from the Tokyo Olympic Village. He has been asked to return to India. After returning to India, he will be collecting his belongings. He can then fly back to his country.

The IOC canceled his accreditation as well. The cancellation came as FILA asked for strong action against the repeat offender.

Hindustan Times reported that Guidarov has a history of being terminated from the Olympics. During the 2004 Athens Olympics, the wrestler had been booted from the competition. He had attacked his opponent off the mat after he lost in the quarterfinal bout.

Even though he had been reprimanded for his past attack, he was allowed to participate in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In his Olympic comeback, he had won the 74kg silver. His return to the world of wrestling may not be as smooth after the second violent offense that cost him his accreditation and job.