AIFF Prez Kalyan Chaubey to meet Referees Committee to review refeereing issues

The refereeing in Indian football has recently been below par.

In football, the whistleblowers have always been in a state of quandary as their decisions decide the unfolding of an upcoming melodrama. Over the years, there have been many football matches across different Indian football leagues and tournaments where controversies have churned up due to poor refereeing and incompetent match officiating.

Coaches have shown their dissatisfaction with refereeing during the press conferences and media interactions. Earlier this year in January, when the ISL 2022-23 season was underway, East Bengal FC locked horns with Kerala Blasters FC at the Salt Lake Stadium. Though East Bengal clinched a 1-0 win in that game, it became a controversy right after the final whistle was blown.

The game was exciting right from the start, but the referee made a few bad calls that made it less enjoyable. The Blasters got off to a fast start and looked like they should have had a penalty in the seventh minute. After the drama that continued throughout the game, starting from denying penalties twice to Adrian Luna’s Yellow Card for protesting there were a few erroneous offside calls, and while they had no bearing on the result of the match, both fans and commentators questioned the refereeing standard.

Moreover, this was not the first instance in which ISL refereeing decisions have taken center stage. Something similar was observed during Chennaiyin FC’s tie with Odisha FC which ended in a 2-2 draw, earlier in February.

Even in this season, many teams have suffered due to the poor refereeing standards. Standout in this regard in the Mumbai City vs Mohun Bagan game which witnessed ‘seven’ red cards in total. Perhaps a record in the entire league.

Controversial match officiating has always been a major drawback and it is something that needs attention since many attempts have been made in the past to chalk out a solution for the refereeing conundrum in Indian football but all have gone in vain.

Recently AIFF announced that President Kalyan Chaubey will be meeting the members of the Referees Committee, AIFF Chief Refereeing Officer Trevor Kettle, and a team of Referee Assessors on December 31, 2023, to discuss all the prevailing refereeing issues and chalk out the necessary solutions to them.

“That’s a great call from Mr. Kalyan Chaubey. Empower our Referees as they buckle to power politics,” Henry Menezes, who was previously a part of the AIFF, commented upon this news.

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