An Indian wrestler has been banned for life after punching a referee as tempers boiled over in a sweltering New Delhi arena with no air-conditioning during an intense heatwave.

Satender Malik was sweating it out in the 125kg (175 pound) class during trials on Tuesday for this year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham when the referee ruled in favour of his opponent.

Seething with anger and covered in sweat, Malik stormed across the mat, shouted expletives at referee Jagbir Singh and punched him in the face.  

“Never before has such a thing happened,” Vinod Tomar, an official with the Wrestling Federation of India, told AFP. 

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