Two Mongolian wrestling coaches who removed their clothes in protest at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro have been suspended for three years, the sport’s governing body has announced.
Both Tserenbaatar Tsogbayar and Byambarinchen Bayaraa have been sanctioned by United World Wrestling (UWW) after one of the more colorful incidents of Rio 2016.
They were both found guilty of “impropriety and assault” and “acts against the reputation and interests of United World Wrestling”.
The drama occurred after Uzbekistan’s Ikhtiyor Navruzov beat Mongolia’s Ganzorigiin Mandakhnaran in the bronze medal bout of the 65 kilograms class.
His 8-7 victory was widely condemned by the Mongolian coaches, who removed their clothes in anger and claimed the referees had “supported” the Uzbek.
Mandakhnaran had been 7-6 in front in the freestyle contest but was penalized two points for “not engaging” in the closing stages, with three judges later suspended by the UWW after analysis of this bout and another of Navruzov’s Olympic matches.
As well as the three year bans, Mongolia’s national wrestling federation has been fined $51,000, although the country’s wrestlers are cleared to compete at future competitions as the nation’s governing body has had a provisional ban lifted.
“This was a protest, there was a problem with the refereeing,” said Bayaraa at the time of the incident. “The Mongolian wrestler won 7-6 and he lost because of this [the judges’ decision]. This is the only time in history of wrestling with point penalty. The referees were not good, they only supported the Uzbek. After the challenge for five seconds we win, and we are very happy for this medal. Three million people in Mongolia waited for this bronze medal and now we have no medal. One hundred percent of the stadium supported us.”
UWW suspended judges Temo Kazarashvilli of Georgia, Tong-Kun Chung of South Korea and Russia’s Sergei Novakoskiy for “suspicious officiating” after Navruzov’s quarter-final with Puerto Rico’s Franklin Gomez in Rio was also declared to be controversial.
Navruzov emerged as an 8-5 winner but the UWW revealed that the match and all circumstances surrounding it had become the subject of an investigation by its Ethics Commission, with a full report set to be produced.
Following the controversies, the UWW announced in Paris earlier this month that they will provide financial support to improve the standard of judging.
The world governing body will pump cash into a new program which will focus on the “development and education” of its officials.
By Dan Palmer
Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz