Narinder Batra has castigated officiating mistakes at Hangzhou 2022 ©Getty Images

Former Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Narinder Batra has castigated the level of officiating at the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games.

He has expressed his anger at decisions could have cost India two gold medals at the Games, although the results eventually went the country's way.

"Umpires & tech Officals [sic] of few Asian Games sports require a crash course in IOC (International Olympic Committee) to ensure that they can live up to the required world standards of umpiring," Batra, also the former President of the International Hockey Federation (FIH), wrote to insidethegames.

"In Athletics in Javelin throw, the Officals [sic forgot to do measurement of first throw of Neeraj Chopra, how can this happen ????

"In Kabaddi, the umpires and technical table did not know the correct rules until the Athletes explained the correct rules to them, the umpires & Technical table changed their decision 3 times.

"People who were not part of technical table and umpiring were seen interfering in decision making especially the Secretary General of Asian Kabaddi, these were Asian Games and not Community Centre Games being played in the backyard of office bearers of Asian Kabaddi."

Neeraj Chopra's first attempt in the men's javelin throw final was not recorded and he had to throw again as a result ©Getty Images
Neeraj Chopra's first attempt in the men's javelin throw final was not recorded and he had to throw again as a result ©Getty Images

The first of Batra's annoyances came at the men's javelin throw on October 4 when Olympic and world champion Chopra was forced to retake his first attempt. 

His opener went beyond 85 metres but was not recorded, with officials blaming a glitch in the electronic distance measurement system.

The 25-year-old reluctantly agreed to throw again but only managed to reach 82.38m.

Fortunately, the blunder did not impact the final result as Chopra threw a leading season best score of 88.88m in the fourth round.

The second scenario that left Batra, a member of the IOC until he stood down as President of the FIH, was yesterday's kabaddi final.

The match pitted defending champions Iran against eight-time gold medallists India, with the latter eventually winning 33-29.

The final was level at 28 points apiece with just over a minute remaining before India went on a raid for points.

Both teams claimed a decision should have gone in their favour.

The men's kabaddi final was suspended for more than an hour after athletes from both sides refused to play due to a disputed decision from the referee ©Getty Images
The men's kabaddi final was suspended for more than an hour after athletes from both sides refused to play due to a disputed decision from the referee ©Getty Images

Despite his gripes, Batra was still full of praise for the organisers. 

"To sum up wonderful and fantastic games except above and few more similar irritant’s," he wrote.

"To conclude Thank You Raja Randhir Singh Acting President Olympic Council of Asia and Mr Vinod Tiwari Officiating Director General Olympic Council of Asia for giving us an extraordinary & a grand event in Asia."