Wrestler Satender punches referee during Commonwealth Games trials, gets life ban

In a bizarre incident, wrestler Satender punched a referee after losing his bout in the 125kg freestyle category during the Commonwealth Games selection trials, forcing the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) to impose a life ban on him, here on Tuesday.

After losing his bout to opponent Mohit, Satender stormed across the mat to punch the referee in frustration.

"WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was present at the venue for the trials, took immediate action against Satender and suspended him for life," Vinod Tomar, assistant secretary of the WFI told Sports Tak.

Due to Satender's intervention at the mat, the 57kg bout between Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Aman was also stopped for a brief period.

Notably, the likes of Tokyo Olympic medalists Ravi Kumar Dahiya and Bajrang Punia were not handed direct entry to the Commonwealth Games and rather were asked to go through trials. The two stars were given byes to the semi-final stages of their respective weight categories.