Chennai City FC Green and Mohun Bagan FC White players in action during their I-League football match at Nehru Stadium in Coimbatore on Wednesday. | Photo: PTI
CHENNAI: As Chennai City FC’s I-League clash against Mohun Bagan drew to a close, referee for the game Akash Jackson did something that caused social media to explode with comments, a mistake that simply does not belong at this level. He sent off the wrong guy.
In the 84th minute, Jackson showed a red card to Edwin Vanspaul when it was the Chennai City player’s first yellow of the game. Another player — Tarif Akhand — was actually on two yellows, but was allowed to finish the game.
Mere minutes before that, Jackson had awarded Bagan a penalty for a foul that looked like it had been committed outside the box. In the other I-League game of the day, Tejas Nagvenkar disallowed a seemingly-legitimate Shillong Lajong goal that allowed Minerva Punjab to win the game 3-2, a decision with serious implications on the I-League title race.
“I don’t know what was going on,” Chennai City’s owner Rohit Ramesh said after the game. “It was Edwin’s first yellow yet he was sent off. Tarif had two yellows, yet he was allowed to finish off the game. The penalty before that was not a penalty. This is the third time in three matches that we have complained about the referee’s performance.”
And it’s not just an I-League thing. The performance of referees in the Indian Super League has come under even more fire. “To be a referee is not easy,” Bengaluru FC coach Albert Roca had said ahead of his side’s 3-1 victory over Chennaiyin FC on Sunday. “But the standard of the referees and the linesmen this year, it is there for all to see.”
The context for Roca’s comments was a second yellow awarded to Rahul Bheke against ATK, which many felt was not a foul. Equally debatable was the first yellow awarded to him, which many felt was a straight red.
It’s rare to see a week go by in Indian football without someone saying something about referees. Roca’s comments were tame in comparison to that of FC Pune City coach Ranko Popovic who, last month, was banned and fined for calling ISL referees ‘jokers’. Just days ago, Minerva Punjab’s owner Ranjit Bajaj had a word for the referee in his side’s game against Churchill Brothers. “God is watching you.”
But what has happened this year, for so many controversial incidents to grab the headlines? For starters, there are more Indian referees at work, most of them with little experience at this level. Eight of the eighteen referees who officiated in the ISL last year were from abroad — people who had officiated World Cup games and Premier League matches. This year, fourteen of the fifteen referees are Indians. The I-League had an all-Indian line-up in both years, but the number of different officials used have increased — 24 to last year’s 18.
AIFF officials maintain that the increase in the talent pool is a conscious decision which will serve Indian football well in the long run. Referees get better with experience, they argue, and until then they will make mistakes. They also cite the fact that there has been a sudden increase in the number of youth league matches over the last few years, increasing the strain on a very limited pool. But for how long can refereeing at the highest level of Indian football afford to look incompetent?
vishnu.prasad@newindianexpress.com
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