AIFF steps in to improve quality of officiating in ISL

Chennai, January 20: The Indian Super League (ISL) 2020-21 season has been plagued by poor refereeing decisions.

So bad has been some of the decisions that the All India Football Federation (AIFF) was recently forced to issued a press statement following complaints raised by multiple clubs.

Chennaiyin FC, SC East Bengal and FC Goa are amongst the clubs who have questioned the level of officiating in the tournament so far.

Recently, the AIFF Disciplinary Committee overturned the red card given to SC East Bengal defender Danny Fox.

This was after they viewed video clippings of the incident upon the club's appeal against the decision and was satisfied there was no intentional foul or violent conduct on Fox's part.

ISL 2020-21: AIFF overturns Danny Fox's red card

Goa coach Juan Fernando was also very critical in his assessment of the referees while speaking to the press after their game against ATK Mohun Bagan.

"A lot of people back in Spain watched this game and asked me if this is a joke. It's incredible. Even in our last game against Odisha FC two penalties were clear," he said.

The AIFF has taken the offenders to task and recently removed them from officiating further in the ISL season.

The ISL recently organised a first-of-its-kind open communication forum between coaches of clubs, representatives of the AIFF and the referees to discuss on a number of issues surrounding the officiating of games and the communication between coaches and match officials.

The main objective of the campaign was to acknowledge the two-way communication between coaches and the referees appointed by the AIFF to have constructive discussion.

As a first step, a specific time has been allotted following a match day to give the opportunity to coaches to discuss with the referees on aspects about the game where clarity might be required for both parties to sort them out that will result in the overall development of the game.

The AIFF also has a mechanism in place where the refereeing assessment report goes to the referees' department and if they still commit blunders, they will be kept out of officiating for a while and will be given training sessions before they start officiating again.