There is no doubt about the change that ISL had brought to Indian Football. After five successful seasons, the sixth season has started with great pomp and show. Two new teams included in the place of Delhi and Pune to the roster, the league season spreads over six months. A new fan following has arisen for football in this country after the introduction of the league. ISL is now the top tier above I-league.
Even though the league has grown in popularity and revenue the referees are poor yet again. This has been a problem since the start of the tournament. In the first 3 seasons, about half of the referees were foreign recruits. But then AIFF decided to use only Indian officials in the following seasons.
The previous season saw coaches getting banned and fined for speaking against the officials. But the federation keeps backing their referees and shielding them against negative responses. They stress the need to improve refereeing in India, but we can’t see any this season.
The opening match between Kerala Blasters and ATK saw a few controversial decisions. ATK was on the receiving side of those when they were not awarded two possible penalties and a goal. Robin Williams put the ball in the net but the linesman called it offside. But replays showed otherwise. A clear foul on Michael Soosairaj was not penalizedthe ref leaving the Tamilian furious. Then in the second half, the away side swarmed the referee. They begged for a spot-kick claiming a handball inside the box from Gning.
Soosai later came up with a tweet sharing the video of the incident stirring up a heated argument between both sets of fans. Meanwhile, the Blasters coach lashed back against haters sharing the stats of the match. Similar mistakes occurred in another match again featuring the Yellow Army. Mumbai City won the match but they could have got another goal when Zuiverloon tripped Chermitti earlier in the first half.
After a week since the tournament kicked off, we are yet to see AIFF doing anything about this matter. There is very little that the fans can do about this so the team management must step in urging a change in this situation.
There is an offside in second goal of NEFC,but it is not noticed😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
#shameofindianrefaries
They should change refree