Returning home to Russia, after officiating KHL game in Riga, referee Pavel Komarov has been found unconscious in Sherementev Airport.
43-year-old Komarov planned to travel home to Nizhni-Novgorod through Sherementev airport. Unfortunately for him, he did not make it and was found at the airport with a serious head trauma.
The incident occurred on Friday. From the airport, Komarov in serious condition had been rushed to hospital.
At around 15:00 local time he had arrived at the Airport, where he had to take off to Nizhni-Novgorod at 16:30. His wife Jekaterina had contacted him multiple times, but she hadn't noticed anything strange or suspicious during the call. In the phone call, the referee had told her that he had met his well-known colleague - Sergey Kulakov, with whom he spent time chatting from around 15:35 to 15:50, afterward both have gone separate ways.
Doctors are not convinced that Pavel had fallen and hit his head. He has been diagnosed with an open head-brain trauma.
''Last time Pavel called at 16:10 and said that he is on the bus and en route to the plane. If he was with someone, he would have told me. We agreed that when he arrives he will call me and I will go to meet him at the airport. If he didn't go to the plane, why nobody went to look for him? If he didn't fly, his luggage still had to make it to Nizhni-Novgorod, but it was given to me at the Sherementev airport, which means that they must have removed it from the plane. My husband always flies in business class, and business transfers are different from the basic. Why did he go with others on the bus?'' his wife Jekaterina Komarova wondered.
KHL head referee Aleksey Anisimov has said that there are no life-threatening injuries to Komarov. Ref is expected to miss at least a month.
''Ref Pavel Komarov is currently in the hospital. We don't have information on what has happened. I can confirm that head trauma wasn't caused during game action. He won't be officiating in the next month or so'' informed KHL's PR Department.