ISL 2018-19: 5 shocking referee blunders in the league so far

In any sport -- be it football, cricket, badminton, table tennis -- a lot of responsibility rests upon the match officials. There are advanced courses for being the referee in football and they have to go through rigorous training themselves to reach that position.

Even though the referee tries to be as unbiased as possible and gives decisions to what he/she saw happening on the field, there are times when they make blunders. These are human errors but some of these decisions shift the tide of the match towards one team and can change the entire fate of the match.

The use of virtual assistant referee (VAR) has helped the match officials correct their decisions in multiple prominent leagues such as the Ligue 1 and Bundesliga. However, the technology is yet to be adopted in India and the decisions in ISL matches are completely upto the discretion of the referees and his assistants. Contentious decisions can certainly be curbed to a great extent with the introduction of VAR but that has not been done in the ISL yet.

There were plenty of controversies in ISL season 4 concerning wrong decisions by the match officials and this season has been no different. With so many gaffes happening, it is only natural for coaches and club staff to retaliate. Expecting them to not lose their temper after extremely poor decisions is unjustified. The only downside to the use of VAR is that extends the time of the game and breaks its tempo to a mild extent. However, if the result of the game depends on that one wrong decision then isn't it better to incorporate VAR?

The team in ISL Season 5 which has borne the brunt of poor decisions by officials the most is David James' Kerala Blasters.

In this article, we take a look at 5 shocking referee blunders that have been witnessed in ISL Season 5 so far:

#5 Pronay Halder not being sent off from the match between ATK and Chennaiyin FC for manhandling the referee (26th October, 2018)

The only two teams to have lifted the ISL trophy -- ATK and Chennaiyin FC -- locked horns on 26th October 2018. The match ended with ATK as winners with Kalu Uche and John Johnson scoring a goal apiece for them. Ajitkumar Meetei was the referee on the day. Pronay Halder leapt in and gave Raphael Augusto a really poor tackle.

Many referees would have given him a straight red for the horrendous tackle. Even Ajitkumar was reaching straight for the pocket but Pronay went up to him, pleaded not to give him a card and even held the referee's hands.

Obstructing the referee is an offence worthy of a red card itself but Ajitkumar was lenient and the situation eventually ended with Pronay getting only a yellow card. The referee should have controlled the situation better rather than taking the situation lightly just because the guilty player was pleading with him.

#4 Andrea Orlandi of Chennaiyin FC denied a penalty after a foul by Subhasish Bose of Mumbai City FC (3rd November, 2018)

There was another incident during the Match between Chennaiyin FC and Mumbai City FC in which a clear penalty was not awarded. The Marina Machans' Orlandi had made a brilliant run in the box. After getting past few defenders he only had Subhashish Bose to beat before he could get a clear sight on goal and get his shot away.

However, Bose stuck out a leg when Orlandi beat him with a dummy. There was clear contact and the Chennaiyin man was down on the ground. There was complete disbelief in the Chennaiyin stand when the referee -- Raktim Saha -- waved play on.

The match eventually went in favour of Mumbai City FC with Modou scoring the solitary goal of the match in the 2nd half. The wrong penalty decision by referee Raktim Saha was extremely vital in the result of the match.

#3 Sunil Chhetri offside goal vs Kerala Blasters (5 November, 2018)

R Venkatesh's assistant was the guilty party when he did not give Chhetri offside in the match against Kerala Blasters. The Yellow Army were playing at home in Kochi and went on to lose the match 2-1.

Miku gave Chhetri a through ball in the 17th minute of the match but the Bengaluru skipper was clearly offside. Chhetri slotted the ball home in the right corner past a hapless Naveen and the goal remained as no offside was given by the linesman.

David James and Sandesh Jhinghan were expectedly miffed with the poor officiating. The English coach even went on to state in the post-match conference that VAR should be introduced in the ISL.

The Manjappada have suffered a lot in this ISL due to referee gaffes. In another match against the Delhi Dynamos, CK Vineeth was fouled inside the box and it was a clear penalty but it wasn't awarded to them. Emiliano Alfaro had also handled the ball in their game against FC Pune City but the decision was not given in their favour.

#2 Emiliano Alfaro hand-ball in the game between FC Pune City and Kerala Blasters (2nd November, 2018)

Emiliano Alfaro handled the ball on the goal line to prevent it from crossing the line. There was complete confusion as initially the goal was given for crossing the line but later disallowed after the referee consulted with his linesman. Om Prakash Thakur was the guilty party on this occasion as it should have been a clear penalty for handball by Alfaro.

It is the 42nd minute in the match. Slavisla Stojanovic whips in a good cross from the corner. Nemanja Lakic-Pesic somehow manages to get the ball towards the far post. Nikola Krcmarevic, who was at the far post, sends the ball goalward. There is a desperate dive by Emiliano Alfaro and the keeper Kamaljit to prevent the ball from crossing the line. Nikola feels he has done enough and the ball has crossed the line.

However, Om Prakash consults his linesman and the goal is disallowed. Replays show that Alfaro intentionally handles the ball to prevent it from crossing line and it should have been a straight red for him as well as a penalty awarded to Kerala but it was not to be as Om felt otherwise.

However, as karma would have it, Alfaro missed a penalty himself on the other end in the same match and the encounter finished on a 1-1 stalemate.

#1 Chennaiyin awarded penalty while replays showed Gregory Nelson had dived (25th November, 2018)

John Gregory and his troops were trailing 2-0 in their match against Jamshedpur FC. Pablo Morgado scored a screamer to hand the home team the lead. Carlos Calvo doubled their lead from the penalty spot.

Then the refereeing blunder by Umesh Bora came in the 68th minute when he wrongly awarded Chennaiyin a penalty.

Bikash Jairu appeared to have brought down Gregory Nelson but replays showed it was a dive. Umesh wasn't giving the penalty initially but gave it soon after consulting his assistant to the dismay of the Men of Steel.

Even though this decision did not affect the fate of the match much and Jamshedpur FC went on to win 3-1, it would have been highly controversial if the result was anything else.

Do you think VAR should be introduced to the ISL? Do share your opinion in the comments section below.

Edited by Shruti Sadbhav