Breaking: Referee found bloodied and unconscious

According to a report from Finnish tabloid Iltalehti.fi, KHL referee Pavel Komarov was found bloodied and unconscious in the back of a bus, the result of an apparent blow to the head from a blunt object.

Translation of the Finnish report is murky, but what we do know is that Komarov was returning home to Novgorod, Russian following an officiating trip when he suffered was either attacked or injured himself in the back of an airport bus at Sheremetyevo International Airport. Russian officials are reporting that Komarov had fallen and hit his head, but medical reports claim that he was struck in the back of the head. Komarov has a fractured skull and is recovering in hospital, currently.

To further confuse matters, other Russian reports claimed that Komarov was drunk and had been harassing women, but Komarov’s wife attests to speaking with him just 20 minutes before the alleged attack.  His baggage was also removed from the plane BEFORE the attack… 

While we don’t yet have all the information in place to make a judgement call, at the very least it looks like something VERY fishy was going on with Komarov. Was he merely in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or was he the victim of a targeted attack? Again, we don’t know yet… but hopefully the truth comes out once Komarov is able to make a public statement.