The much-anticipated India vs Iran Asian Games men's kabaddi final was suspended for more than an hour amid controversy and high drama over a disputed do-or-die raid. The issue was over the "lobby" rule: The Pro Kabaddi League and the International Kabaddi Federation have different rules on this, and the officials were unclear on which rule would apply here. The match was suspended at 1:46 pm India time. It resumed at 2:48 pm. A minute later, India won 33-29 and claimed the gold.
What was the incident?
The point in contention came with exactly one minute and five seconds left on the clock. The scores were tied 28-28 and India captain Pawan Kumar Sehrawat went to raid. It was a do-or-die raid, which meant the raider had to get a point or he would be eliminated if he did not. Pawan darted across the mat and ran towards the right corner in an attempt to get a running hand touch. However, he ended up stepping into the lobby in the process. The lobby is the strip on either side of the mat that is activated only after the raider makes a touch on a defender. But in Pawan's case, there was no touch and he entered the lobby.
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However, three Iranian defenders followed Pawan into the lobby as well in an attempt to tackle him. Pawan immediately gestured to the referees that he hadn't got a touch on any defender before heading into the lobby.
That's when the matter went to the referee, umpires and the judges, and the confusion began.
What do the rules say?
IKF rule (Rule 28 of the IKF rulebook): If a defender or defenders who has/have touched the ground outside the boundary (as per rule 5), hold a raider, the raider will be declared NOT OUT. The defender or defenders who have gone out of bounds only will be declared out.
PKL rule: If a raider steps into the lobby, then the raid ends there and the raider is eliminated. One point awarded to the defending team unless one of their defenders also goes off the mat.
The Pro Kabaddi League changed the lobby rule last year. The old rule was widely contested as being unfair to the defending team. A prime example of this was when the entire Bengaluru Bulls squad of seven followed Bengal Warriors' Mohammad Esmaeil Nabibakhsh into the lobby in season 8. The Warriors got eight points and won the game by one point at 40-39.
However, "keeping sportsmanship" in mind, the League has amended the rule. E Prasad Rao, the technical director of PKL, told ESPN in October last year: "From this season on, once the raider goes out of bounds before a tackle, the raid will be considered over. The defender who goes into the lobby will not be treated as out."
What did the referee do?
The referee awarded one point to each team, but Pawan felt he should be given more as three Iranian players entered the lobby. The Indians asked for a video review and it took the officials over seven minutes before they came back with a decision: three points awarded to India and one point to Iran.
What followed was absolute mayhem. The Iranians launched a protest, appealing to the referees; Fazel Atrachali, their captain, came off the bench to speak to the referee.
At that, the referee went again to the judge's desk to watch more replays of the raid. However, they were still unsure of which rule to follow. The umpires walked around trying to figure it out, while the players stayed on the mat. The Iranians, though, stayed composed and their coach Gholamreza Mazandarani stayed seated unlike his counterpart.
Indian coach E. Bhaskaran had a point: if the new rule was being employed, then why did the referee change his decision after India's review?
The officials came back and the decision once again went Iran's way and coach Bhaskaran asked his player to stop playing and sit on the mat. In what can only be described as unsavoury scenes, Pawan and the entire Indian bench mobbed the referees. More officials were summoned and the secretary general of the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India came to intervene. He looked at the replays and clearly stated one point should be given to each team, which was once again met with a round of boisterous protests from the Indians.
The officials, for some reason, see-sawed again and awarded three points to India. Then the Iranian team cried foul, sat on the mat in protest, and the fracas continued. Eventually, the officials ruled in India's favour and play resumed. After two raids and a minute later, India won their eighth gold medal in men's kabaddi in the Asian Games.