India’s Men’s Kabaddi team scripted history by winning a Gold medal at the Asian Games 2023 held in Hangzhou, China. However, India won the gold medal, but it came after an hour-long high-voltage drama, multiple reviews, and arguments. On the internet, clips and images of the Indian Kabaddi team are going viral depicting Indian players and coaching staff involved in arguments with referees on a dispute decision in the men’s Kabaddi gold medal match between Iran and India. The heated discussion and drama occurred during the final game of Kabaddi at the Asian Games 2023 on Saturday, October 7, 2023. As a result, a sit-in protest was seen during the final game. If you are scrambling to the internet to unravel the controversy of the India vs Iran final Kabaddi match at the Asian Games 2023, the following sections are waiting for you.
Unravel the controversy of India vs Iran Final Kabaddi Match
A lot of drama erupted during the medal game when a contentious raid involving the skipper of India Men’s Kabaddi team, Pawan Shehrawat led to a temporary suspension of the game. After that, the game took nearly one hour to resume the medal match of the event. Reportedly, all the senior officials of the event including the match referee were also trying to solve the situation and stop the sit-in protest of the Indian players. This erupted when only the last 90 seconds were left of the match. But an hour-long dispute delayed the match.
The sit-in protest drama started when less than 90 seconds were on the clock. Kindly note that the score level stood at 28-28 when Indian skipper Pawan Sehrawat went on a do-or-die raid. During his raid, Pawan ventured out of bounds into the lobby without making contact with any of his opponents. But Pawan’s move into the lobby led to confusion as 4 players of Iran attempted to dash him.
Iran was awarded a point as the Indian captain went out of bounds. However, the decision was vehemently opposed by the Indian Kabaddi players. A review was taken by both TV umpires and the on-court umpire. Following the review, the decision was changed and announced in favor of Team India. The umpires awarded India with four points after a review. Seemingly, the Iranian team was not happy with this development. The passionate protests by both teams caused a tense situation in the final match of the event. Stay tuned.
