Simultaneous organisation of Indian Super League (ISL) and I-League has indeed offered an opportunity for more Indian players to showcase their skills. However, this move has taken a massive toll on the supervision standards as India does not have enough professional or top grade referees to supervise both leagues simultaneously. This problem should have been thought out by the All India Football Federation before both tournaments commenced in November 2017.
It was thought that the ISL would attract foreign referees as the pay package is lucrative. Foreign referees are paid $850 per match and approximately $300 as allowances per day. However, as the ISL does not improve their international standing, foreign referees have not responded to invitations. Cameroon’s A. Juenkou has been the only foreign referee to be part of the league so far. He supervised four games in eight days, from November 17 to 25.
Hence, the Indian referees are constantly criss-crossing between the I-League and the ISL and this is taking a toll on their fitness and concentration. Matches are held daily in either the I-League or ISL and so the referees are shuttling between cities. Decreased concentration levels due to fatigue resulted in many howlers.
There is a fixture pile up for top referees like Tejas Nagvenkar, Rahul Gupta, Pranjal Banerjee, C.R. Srikrishna, Armugham Rowan and Ranjit Bakshi to mention a few. The problem is further accentuated by discrimination in pay packages.
For an ISL match, Indian referees get Rs. 12,000 per game. Surprisingly, for an I-League match, many of which are of the same level of intensity, a referee gets only Rs. 7,000. Hence, all the referees are keen to be part of more ISL matches. They are willing to travel the extra mile and forgo proper rest. Pranjal Banerjee supervised an I-League in January 28 in Kozikhode and five days later was at Pune for an ISL match. Rahul Gupta did two ISL matches within a span of four days, January 21 in Kochi and January 25 in Kolkata. ISL matches finish late night, so the referees travel the next day. Excessive travel and exertion are taking their toll.
In the initial stages of both these leagues, the referees coped quite well, much to the satisfaction of Gautam Kar, director referees, AIFF. However, with just a month left for both leagues to be completed, the lack of recovery time is proving to be damaging and the referees have become error-prone. This does not project a good image of both the ISL and I-League.
In both the ISL and I-League, supervision standards have been inconsistent, leading to complaints by the coaches. FC Pune City’s Serbian-Austrian coach Ranko Popoviv was incensed at A. Rowan’s supervision of his team’s match against FC Goa on December 23. He was given a four-match touchline ban and fined Rs. 5 lakh for his scathing criticism of the referee. Similarly, Chennaiyin FC’s experienced coach John Gregory (Aston Villa manager from 1998 to 2002) was banned for three games for expressing annoyance at Ranjit Bakshi’s supervision of the match against Jamshedpur FC on December 28, 2017. Most of the ISL coaches are unhappy with the supervision standards but are not publicly complaining due to the apprehension of strict punishment.
There have been howlers in the I-League as well. In the crucial match on February 7 at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Panchkula, Shillong, Lajong had a seemingly legitimate equalizer disallowed by referee Tajas Nagvenkar, who has been on India’s FIFA referees panel since 2014. Samuel Lalmunpuia’s cross was headed in by their Ivory Coast striker Abdoulaye Koffi. The referee felt that Koffi had impeded Minerva’s goalkeeper Rakshit Dagar when scoring. After the match, both coaches had contrary views. Wangkhem Khogen Singh (Minerva) felt the decision was justified. Birendra Thapa (Shillong Lajong) stressed that it was a legitimate goal and TV replays seemed to support his case.
The 31-year-old Nagvenkar was again the referee on January 30 at the Barasat Stadium, when East Bengal played Minerva FC. East Bengal’s Japanese midfielder Yusa Katsumi’s penalty kick was saved by goalkeeper Kiran Kumar Limbu in the first half. However, photographs clearly showed that two Minerva FC players had rushed into the 18-yard box before the kick was taken. This is a blatant violation of rules as it disturbs the striker and Nagvenkar should have warned the Minerva players and asked Katsumi to retake the kick. But he did not notice this blatant infringement.
At Coimbatore, on February 7, in an I-League match between Chennai City FC and Mohun Bagan, referee Akash Jackson Routh committed the basic error of wrong identification in sending off a player. Tarik Akhand (already on a yellow from the 40th minute of the game) conceded a penalty in the 81st minute and referee Akash Jackson Routh showed Edwin Vanspaul the yellow card, with Akhand remaining on the pitch despite meriting two yellows. Moments later, Vanspaul was shown two yellows in quick succession and sent off as players of Chennai City surrounded the referee and argued with him. The game was paused for a long time and only resumed with twelve minutes of added time.
Coach perils
Some of the ISL franchises have at last realized the futility of hiring big names as coaches, especially when they have little experience in Indian conditions. The biggest blunder was done by ATK (Kolkata) who hired Teddy Sheringham this season. Sheringham, a UEFA Champions League winner with Manchester United in 1999, had little coaching experience and struggled in India. Twice champions, ATK is unlikely to finish in the top four. In mid-January Sheringham was asked to leave and Ashley Westwood who had won the I-League twice with Bengaluru FC stepped in. Westwood is trying to revive the fortunes but has been hit by a spate of injuries. For their match against Kerala Blasters, they had just five fit foreign players. The defending champions ATK also have the worst goal-scoring record in ISL Season 4, one less than Sunil Chhetri (Bengaluru FC) who has netted nine goals.
ATK is also paying the price for hubris in severing connections with Atletico Madrid after a fruitful three-year partnership. The Spanish club found the coaches and foreign contingent for ATK, which made them a cohesive and match winning team. Without professional help from Spain, ATK is floundering.
Similarly, another well supported team—Kerala Blasters—opted for former Manchester United assistant coach Rene Meulensteen, who had little knowledge of Indian conditions. In 2017, they were the only franchise with high profile foreign players like Wes Brown and Dimitar Berbatov and the popular Iain Hume and established internationals like Sandesh Jhingan, Jackichand Singh and C.K. Vineeth. Yet they had just one win in seven games. The loss to Bengaluru FC on New Year’s eve was the last straw. Fans, who were incensed as local hero CK Vineeth was not fielded, hurled plastic bottles onto the ground. Meulensteen’s defensive tactics (goalless draws in his opening two matches) were also not liked. The local media also reported of dissension within the squad and quarrels on the training ground. The Dutch coach also had problems with Jhingan and accused him of being inconsistent and having attitude problems.
Meulensteen was replaced by David James who played for this franchise in the first season of the ISL. With his better man management skills, James restored harmony in the Kerala Blaster’s squad. Consequently the team’s performance improved. Under Meulensteen, the popular Kerala outfit had just seven points from seven matches and a chance to reach the top four knock out stage seemed remote. Since James took over, they have secured 13 points from seven matches and are now sixth in the table.
At the start of the New Year, struggling North East United FC sacked their Portuguese coach Joao de Deus Pires and his assistant coach Joao Pinho as the team was languishing in ninth place with just one win in seven games. Former Chelsea coach Avram Grant has since taken over with Vladica Grujic as assistant coach of NEUFC. There has been marginal improvement but they are still languishing in the ninth position and for the fourth successive year will miss the cut for the knock out last four stage.
