Kalyan Chaubey: AIFF spending lot of time in improving refereeing standards

In January, the AIFF decided to give out monthly salary to the referees.

The refereeing standards in ISL 2022-23 have been questionable throughout the league stage. Many head coaches have come out hard on certain decisions which have hampered their chances of qualifying for the top-six. The knockout game between Bengaluru FC and Kerala Blasters was a controversial one, with the latter staging a walk-off, unhappy with the referee’s decision regarding a controversial goal. Recently, Kalyan Chaubey spoke on the refereeing issue in India.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) President during an interaction with TOI said, “People want to watch a match free of human errors. This season we have seen several complaints regarding the quality of refereeing. The AIFF, jointly with FSDL (Football Sports Development Limited) is spending a lot of time improving the standards.”

He further added,” Maybe our Indian referees need some more time to reach international standards. Thereafter, they will be more confident and more error-free”. 

AIFF in their major release in January said,” Referees are set to receive monthly salaries which will help them sustain financially and perform better”.

Successful completion of the Santhosh Trophy

The Santosh Trophy (final rounds) was hosted for the first time outside India and the decision to conduct the matches in Saudi Arabia has paid off. Kalyan Chaubey iterated, "The confidence, exposure, and belief gained by the players are the major takeaways from this tournament. Indian football was globally recognized as we presented our legacy and history to the global audience”. 

Full Coverage of the Free-kick Controversy:

• Kerala Blasters players stage walkout following controversial goal
• Kerala Blasters walk off, Bengaluru FC declared winners
• Sunil Chhetri reveals what discussion he had with referee before taking free-kick
• Sunil waited for Luna to get out of the way twice, Simon Grayson clarifies
• Decoding the referee’s decision in the Bengaluru FC-Kerala Blasters game
• Twitterati react to Kerala Blasters’ walkout decision
• Kerala Blasters demand replay, file protest against referee Crystal John
• Kerala Blasters’ plea rejected by AIFF Disciplinary Committee

Karnataka emerged as the champions defeating Meghalaya (3-2) in the final, ending their trophyless streak of 54 years. Punjab and Services were the favourites to reach the finals, but Karnataka and Meghalaya showed great resilience defeating the top-ranked teams. The stadium had a considerable number of Karnataka supporters. The fans were notably from the Karnataka Cultural Sangha along with doctors and other professionals from Bengaluru and Mangaluru.