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Dubious refereeing bruises lSL, is it time for VAR?
The standard of refereeing in India's top-tier football league, the Indian Super League, has long been the subject of heated debates. And this year it seems no different.
The league had attracted international referees during the initial years, maintaining a balance of 40 per cent international and 60 per cent Indian referees, but the trend saw a change since the fourth season with All India Football Federation (AIFF) pushing for Indian referees. Since then, the league has drawn ire of coaches and players over questionable decision making by the refs.
Miffed by the poor standards of refereeing, ISL has approached AIFF to find a short-term solution and also have a long-term plan chalked out on how to improve refereeing standards in the league.
According to IANS, Football Sports Development Ltd (FSDL) officials, the organisers of the ISL, met AIFF during the FIFA international break in New Delhi and one of the key discussions were on the quality of refereeing in the ongoing sixth edition.
ISL raised questions on the glaring mistakes referees have committed so far affecting several games in the ongoing season. The organisers are concerned with too many flaws impacting the clubs, players, coaches and their fans.
Jamshedpur FC coach Antonio Iriondo was furious after his team saw a penalty claim turned down in the final minutes of the match against NorthEast United on Monday. He minced no words in saying that the standard of refereeing in the cash-rich league has stooped to a new low. The livid Spaniard said:
“The referee missed a clear penalty. This league could be a great league but with this level of refereeing, it is pretty much impossible. There is no way a referee can miss a penalty like that.
“Every match this season, you have seen bad refereeing, these amazing decisions. There a lot of good things about the league. But they are not focusing on the important thing that is refereeing. You cannot have this kind of a situation every week,” added the Jamshedpur FC Coach.
Earlier, the former Chennaiyin FC coach John Gregory had to wade into his side’s 0-3 drubbing against FC Goa in their opening match, where referee Pranjal Banerjee failed to give a penalty when defender Seriton Fernandes brought down Chennaiyin forward Dragos Firtulescu in the box. Gregory, at a press conference, had said that the decision was the worst he’d seen in his career. “It was the clearest penalty that I have ever seen in 50 years of football,” he said.
Reigning champion side Bengaluru FC (BFC) coach Carles Cuadrat had also joined the bandwagon lambasting the standard of refereeing in the ISL. “While the overall standard of the ISL has gone up, the standard of refereeing has not. We see incredible situations with referees that you normally cannot see in professional football. Refereeing is a big problem. This is something that ISL CEO Martin Bain should look at and try to improve,” he remarked.
While it is commendable that AIFF tried to give Indian Referees more chances it should not have come at the cost such huge blunders.
The refereeing has been below par since a couple of seasons inviting the wrath of players, coaches and fans alike. The below-par standard of refereeing has once again ignited the question of whether ISL should be thinking of introducing VAR (Video Assistant Referee).
All the major leagues in the continent like China, Japan, Iran, South Korea, have been using VAR. Though VAR could be the answer to the unreliable refereeing, ISL has to incur a huge cost to implement it. With taking the concern to AIFF, it's time the federation should come up with a concrete solution that can go the distance to improve the quality of Indian football.