Australian Wrestler Stripped of Silver Medal for Rude Gesture

battlefields · 10/05/2010 11:49pm

Australian stripped of silver medal for rude gesture

Australian wrestler Hassene Fkiri lost his temper and a certain medal in the 96kg Greco-Roman class at the Commonwealth Games on Tuesday.

Tunisian-born Fkiri, 36, was disqualified midway through his gold medal bout against India’s Anil Kumar at the Indira Gandhi Complex in Delhi.

Fkiri appeared to have been disqualified for making an obscene gesture to the judges.

The Australian looked frustrated during the bout, at one point trying to slap and headbutt his local rival before eventually giving the finger to international wrestling officials.

The decision ... India's Anil Kumar is awarded the gold medal, as Australia's Hassene Fkiri looks on. Photo: AFP

Australian wrestling team manager Kuldip Bassi said Fkiri lost his temper and was completely devastated by the outcome.

‘‘He should have been happy with the silver and he probably didn’t want to lose,’’ he said.

‘‘He was really upset and he said he lost control, he pointed the finger towards FILA people, which is the worldwide organisation.

‘‘I asked him, ’Did you do it?’ and he said yes he did. So that’s the end of the story, you can’t do anything more than that.

‘‘He shouldn’t have done that, he is a very senior wrestler ... whether you win or lose I think you’ve got to accept it, you’ve got to respect everybody, it is not really sportsmanship.

‘‘He made a big mistake so he paid a big price for it.’’

Bassi said Kumar had provoked Fkiri by pulling his neck during the bout.

‘‘This is a tactic of wrestling, I told him before he went on that’s what’s is going to happen and just be calm,’’ he said.

Australian team official Leonid Zaslavsky said Fkiri’s behaviour was inexcusable, but partly understandable.

‘‘The other side was sort of to blame, if you like,’’ he said.

‘‘There were some things the other side was doing that wasn’t exactly by the rules either, he obviously lost his cool.

‘‘Maybe it was a ploy by the other side to upset him, I don’t know, he’s not normally like that.’’

Fkiri, who wrestled for Tunisia at the 2000 Sydney Games, was too distraught to speak to the media following the incident.

Earlier, Former Iranian wrestler Hassan Shahsavan has won a Commonwealth Games bronze medal for Australia in the 74kg Greco-Roman class.

The 34-year-old Beijing Olympian beat Pakistan’s Muhammad Ali in two sets, before giving Nigerian Perefegha Kiribein the same treatment in the repechage final to claim third spot on the podium at the Indira Gandhi Complex in Delhi on Tuesday.

From SMH.com.au

Now, I am sure many of our American brethren will be saying "the Common- what Games?" Or "man, I thought the Olympics was every four years, how the **** did Delhi get to host this" and "where the **** is Delhi?", but don't fret. This is the Commonwealth Games, countries that are still connected in some way to the British Empire attend an Olympic style Games every four years to show off how good a convict colony is better at most things than the rest of those countries under Brittania Rule. Suck it, England.

So here we are, cleaning up the medal tally as usual, when one of our Aussie wrestlers, Tunisian born Hassene Fkiri, decided to show some decidedly unsportsmanlike behaviour by attempting to slap and headbutt his opponent, refusing to shake his competitors hand and then, in order to be known forever as the epitome of douchebaggery, proceeded to flip off the world level judges. It lost him the Silver Medal. Not that Australia needed it for the tally, but damn, it would've been better than not getting it for us and for him. He is now not a "Silver Medallist at the 2010 Commonwealth Games", he's the "major douche who couldn't handle losing".

His coach and him both admit it was wrong, but they are also laying some blame on the competitor for some sort of neck attack that frustrated him. As I didn't see the event, I can't comment, but if anyone has any info, post it here.

**PizDoff** · Posted On: 10/05/2010 11:50pm

Video of the match:

YouTube - Aussie Hassene Fkiri disqualified.avi

Thanks to Lindz for posting the video first ;)
Original thread here: Australian Wrestler misses out on Gold Medal, then douches it up to lose Silver medal - No BS MMA and Martial Arts

**keyoz** · Posted On: 10/06/2010 2:26pm

Originally Posted by battlefields

This is the Commonwealth Games, countries that are still connected in some way to the British Empire attend an Olympic style Games every four years to show off how good a convict colony is better at most things than the rest of those countries under Brittania Rule. Suck it, England.

Originally Posted by battlefields

...our Aussie wrestlers, Tunisian born Hassene Fkiri...

Originally Posted by battlefields

Earlier, Former Iranian wrestler Hassan Shahsavan has won a Commonwealth Games bronze medal for Australia in the 74kg Greco-Roman class.

Superiority through mild immigration law?

Also:

Originally Posted by battlefields

Pakistan’s Muhammad Ali

**danno** · Posted On: 10/07/2010 6:32am

we get most of our medals in other events. wrestling is pretty rare here, few locals train it. which explains why the people competing in it tend to be immigrants.

we always win the most medals in the commonwealth games.

***battlefields*** · Posted On: 10/07/2010 7:08am

I don't think keyoz understands sarcasm in those instances.

**Hertzyscowicz** · Posted On: 10/07/2010 12:42pm

Originally Posted by PizDoff

Video of the match:

YouTube - Aussie Hassene Fkiri disqualified.avi

Thanks to Lindz for posting the video first ;)
Original thread here: Australian Wrestler misses out on Gold Medal, then douches it up to lose Silver medal - No BS MMA and Martial Arts

I looked at the video description on youtube, the poster is blaming Fakiri's freak out on Anil Kumar getting a hometown decision. Let it be said that the FILA wrestling rules state clearly that "...it is strictly forbidden for an official to officiate in bouts involving compatriot wrestlers", and thus the youtube poster is full of ****.