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Wrestling championship ends in riot
2007-07-06
Russia's national wrestling championship disintegrated into rioting when dozens of angry fans spilled onto the mats and beat up match officials in protest at the result of a bout. The violence broke out over Thursday's gold medal match in the 84 kg weight class between freestyle world champion Sazhid Sazhidov and European champion Georgy Ketoyev. It involved fans from neighboring regions in the Caucasus mountains which have a long tradition of ethnic rivalry. They were furious with a decision to award victory to North Ossetia's Ketoyev over Sazhidov from Dagestan. The organizers had to call in riot police reinforcements who finally restored order at the 5,000-seat Luzhniki Olympic arena. Tempers between rival ethnic fans had already been boiling after an earlier match featuring Ketoyev and another Dagentani wrestler also ended in a brawl, with the two athletes trading punches in the middle of their bout. The ill-fated championship, which originally was scheduled to take place in Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia, was moved to Moscow after protests from Dagestan officials. Major international wrestling championships have been marred by fights in the past. A brawl erupted between spectators, officials, police and competitors in freestyle wrestling after a bout between athletes from Russia and Belarus at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
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