AMRITSAR: Pakistan captain Shafiq Chishti alleged umpires being biased towards opponent team after they lost the Kabddi World Cup final 42-45 to India here on Saturday.

Pakistan led virtually for the whole of the match before India took the lead near the end and Shafiq said the umpire had also shortened the game to let India win the title for a fifth time in succession at the Guru Gobind Singh Multipurpose Stadium.

“They [umpires] didn’t event allow us to have water and the third umpire also threatened us, asking us to get on quickly with the game,” Shafiq, who scored 15 points for Pakistan, told reporters.

“They ended the game prematurely,” he added, referring to the fact that the umpire ended the game as soon as India took the lead.

“We condemn the impartiality of Indian sports authorities, who let their team enjoy other luxuries and even being allowed to rub greasy balms all over their bodies to make it harder for us to grapple them.

“Kabaddi is an international sport and neutral umpires should officiate such matches. We will not participate in the World Cup next year if such biased decisions continue to influence the game.”

The Indian Team will receive INR20 million with Pakistan bagging INR10 million.

Pakistan started brightly, taking a lead of 26-21 at the end of the first half. They maintained their lead until the third quarter, leading 31-27.

At the start of the fourth quarter, India tried to lessen Pakistan’s lead and as soon they gained a three-point lead the final hooter rang which Shafiq claims was before the stipulated time.

Shafiq’s fellow raiders Mohammad Irfan and Akmal Sajjad Dogar scored 13 and six points respectively, while stopper Musharaff Javed Janjua secured 4 points for his team.

For India, raiders Sandeep Singh Surakhpur (16) and Sandeep Luddar (10) were the top scorers.

Earlier, India’s women’s team won their fourth consecutive title when they beat New Zealand 36-27. Pakistan’s women’s team beat Denmark in the third-place playoff on Friday.

Published in Dawn December 21th , 2014

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