Two coaches slam refereeing, SAFF orders probe
The head coaches of Sri Lanka and the Maldives have raised serious allegations of bias and irregularities in refereeing at the ongoing SAFF Championship. In this context, the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) has decided to have the matter investigated through its internal disciplinary committee.
After Sunday's match, Sri Lanka coach Abdullah Al Mutairi and Maldives coach Istvan Urbani expressed strong dissatisfaction over the low standard of refereeing.
Urbani also questioned the absence of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology in the group stage.
However, SAFF General Secretary Purushottam Kattel dismissed the allegation that the referees were influenced, calling it baseless.
Speaking to the media, Purushottam Kattel said, ‘There is no point in such baseless allegations of influencing referees. Do we talk to the referees and give them instructions? Is there any proof of that? The way Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh have been dragged into the comments is also insensitive towards the member countries.’
Informing that the complaints have been sent to the SAFF disciplinary committee, Kattel clarified that whether any action will be taken against the coaches is beyond the administration's jurisdiction. It depends entirely on the disciplinary committee.
On the absence of VAR technology in the group stage, Kattel mentioned technical complications and costs.
He said that even using the comparatively simpler version, ‘VAR Lite’, costs around 10,000 US dollars per match.
However, he confirmed that despite various structural challenges, VAR will be introduced from the semi-finals for the first time in South Asia.
To ensure neutrality in matches, SAFF has this time appointed referees from outside South Asia. Referees from Oman, Vietnam, Singapore and Indonesia are working as main referees, while officials from Thailand and Laos are serving as assistants.
Expressing full confidence in the honesty and neutrality of the referees, the SAFF general secretary said, ‘Such dissatisfaction from coaches over refereeing is seen not only in SAFF but everywhere in world football.’
