A lot has improved in the ISL in three seasons, but refereeing continues to be shoddy

It started off with the most upfront and blunt coach in the Indian Super League, Zico. The next to get on the wagon was Mumbai City FC gaffer Alexandre Guimares, before onboarding FC Pune City bossman Antonio Lopez Habas. The talk is about the poor refereeing standards in the ISL 2016, not that the ones in the last two seasons were any great.

Indian football has been plagued with poor standards of refereeing with less potent Indian officials being at the helm of I-League games and other tournaments such as the Durand Cup and Federation Cup.

Giving Indian football a facelift was the ISL, launched back in 2014, which saw a host of foreign professionals foraying into India for the league to raise the overall standard of the game and practices. Referees from across the world, right from Sri Lanka and New Zealand, among others, were called upon in addition to referee coaches and qualified referee assessors, but not much seem to have changed.

Into the third season, while a lot has improved, right from the venues, overall management, quality of marquee players and play, refereeing standards are still the same. No season has yet gone by without at least three different managers pointing out howlers from the match officials.

Alarming concerns

It’s not that managers around the world do not complain about the referees, but the fact that this is pointed out by most of the managers and that it meets the eye, there is an alarm that needs to be addressed by the league as it looks to take Indian football to greater heights.

From bad tackles going unnoticed or unpunished, to corners not being given or given, penalties being adjudged wrongly, to goals being allowed despite being well offside, the 2016 ISL has seen it all.

Three weeks ago, when FC Goa faced an uphill task against Atletico de Kolkata away, having lost three on the road, the Gaurs were looking to make amends. But with the horrendous refereeing as claimed by Zico, the Gaurs were pegged back in the game and could only manage a draw. The Goa side were shown yellow cards in a flurry, getting coach Zico furious.

“Any kind of foul and [the referee] would show his card," he said. "All crucial decisions are always against us. Foreign referees always do these things. Like we have good players in the ISL, we should have good referees too.

"I don't know what is going on but in the three years I am here all the crucial goals are against us. It seems they want to finish my team. In the game against Pune, it was like this. Most crucial decisions are going against us," he said, referring to their 1-2 loss to Pune City FC on October 8.

Dharamraj Ravanan clearly stamped Dudu Omagbemi in a game between FC Pune City and Chennaiyin FC in front of the referee, but managed to escape a foul, leave aside a booking. Now, although this might not have an instant impact on the game, it might propel teams to play violently.

Three days after Zico had raised his concerns, Mumbai City FC were robbed off three points against the Delhi Dynamos. Firstly, Delhi Dynamos had a goal allowed where the striker was clearly seen to be offside by a handsome distance. Then, they got a contentious penalty decision go their way, which helped them crawl back into the game and walk away with a point. "I don't have a lot to say," a seemingly disappointed ‎Guimaraes said in the post-match conference. "Images show more than I can say."

It just doesn’t end here. After Zico and Guimaraes, it was Spaniard Antonio Habas who brought the below-par refereeing standards to the fore. "The organisation (ISL) really needs to do more. They need to look at the standard of refereeing and the tackles. One day, we will have a serious problem. There is difference between playing strong and being violent. There is a big difference between the two situations. There is absolutely no control," Habas said on the eve of their match against sixth-placed Delhi Dynamos on Wednesday.

Possible solutions

A possible solution could be to have more referee coaches travel to the country throughout the year and train Indian officials. The other possible way could be to invite Fifa referees to officiate alongside local ones, so as to help younger officials learn on the job without directly affecting the game.

While the ISL is all about the hope of a better tomorrow for Indian football, refereeing standards should also rise. Results should be generated through the quality of play on the field, rather than poor refereeing.