ISL 2019-20: Referring woes prompt ISL to approach AIFF to improve quality of referring

The Indian Super League (ISL) has approached the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to work on a solution

ISL voiced its concern due to glaring mistakes referees have committed on the field this season. Miffed by the falling standards of refereeing, the Indian Super League (ISL) has approached the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to work on a short term solution and also have a long term outlook on how to improve the same for its games.

ISL voiced its concern due to glaring mistakes referees have committed on the field affecting many games in the ongoing sixth edition of the tournament. 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 (Match no 30). “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,” he said.

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Bengaluru FC (BFC) coach Carles Cuadrat hit out at the standard of refereeing in the ISL, and called on ISL CEO Martin Bain to take steps to fix the issue. “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,” 

ISL used to attract international referees in the initial years of the league with a balance of 40% international and 60% Indian referees but that trend changed since the fourth season with AIFF pushing for Indian referees.

This article was originally published in Sportstar.com