FC Goa head coach Juan Ferrando upset about quality of refereeing in Durand Cup after Jorge Ortiz injury

FC Goa sealed their place in the quarter-finals of the Durand Cup after beating Sudeva Delhi FC 2-1 in their last game. However, FC Goa’s joy of making it to the knockout stages of the Durand Cup was subdued as a nasty challenge on forward Jorge Ortiz Mendoza brought down the curtains on his campaign.

FC Goa head coach Juan Ferrando, speaking to journalists, sounded concerned about the actions taken following an injury by the tournament authorities. Elaborating on the injury sustained by Jorge Ortiz and the current mood in the camp, coach Ferrnado said:

“We are currently gaging the injury sustained by Jorge. I can’t say much more. He won't play in the Durand Cup. The fans the quality of the tournaments to improve but the players have to be protected for that. If the players feel that there is a high chance of getting injured, they won’t want to take part in the competition."

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The FC Goa coach lashed out at the quality of refereeing in the Durand Cup and said they were not up to the mark. He then raised doubts about whether FC Goa would want to participate in these kinds of tournaments in lieu of pre-season training. He explained:

“The Durand Cup is a prestigious cup. It's an honor to take part but I am upset about the level of refereeing. They are not protecting the players. It is dangerous. I am very upset with the match commissioner in the last match. After the match, I was speaking to the match commissioner, and he was laughing. Ortiz has suffered a major injury. It was not the moment to laugh when we had a serious problem like this. I don't know why he was laughing but his job is to protect the players. "

We are here to participate with the best players and want to put out the best line-up. However, now it becomes a big question for me as to whether we should participate in these tournaments (in the future) or train in Goa for the pre-season. The motivation of the players is now different,” he added.

FC Goa writes to to Durand Cup authorities

FC Goa’s Director of Football Ravi Puskur shed further light on the situation and said the team management had written to the tournament authorities about the standard of refereeing. He elaborated:

“We have already written to the tournament organizers as well, clearly outlining the sour taste that this experience has left us with. Sure, tackles can go into any football game. That’s the nature of the sport. We are not particularly concerned about the fact that the tackle went in as such and victimized any player or individual incident but there are rules and regulations in place and the tournament committee will act upon that. We just want them to show us that the players are protected.”

FC Goa’s Director of Football confirmed the club would not pull out of this edition of the tournament.

“We will love to continue to play in this tournament and send the strongest team possible. We have written to the federation but unfortunately, we haven’t had a response from them as of yet. That does leave us a bit disconcerted as to how our players are approaching this tournament,” he said.