UCLA men’s water polo coach Adam Krikorian received a two-game suspension from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation on Thursday.
A press release issued by the league stated that Krikorian was suspended for “confronting a game official at the official’s hotel” after the Bruin’s Nov. 23 game against UC Irvine at the MPSF championships in Berkeley. UCLA lost that game 10-9 in three overtimes.
Al Beaird, the conference’s executive director, would not comment on the nature of the confrontation.
Krikorian was not available for comment Thursday afternoon, but UCLA Sports Information Director Marc Dellins said Krikorian violated conference rules when he tried to converse with the official away from the venue of competition.
The MPSF and UCLA agreed on the suspension, Dellins said.
Krikorian has never received any reprimand of this kind from the league before. The sport is known for the difficult calls officials must make, because so much of the action takes place beneath the water’s surface.
“These games are hard to officiate. They are really physical,” Krikorian told the Daily Bruin last year. “In this sport, you are never going to agree with all the calls.”
Krikorian coaches both the men’s and women’s teams at UCLA. He has won five women’s NCAA titles and three men’s titles.