ISL must improve the quality of referees: Jorge Costa

Former Mumbai City FC coach Jorge Costa opened up on the standard of referees in the ISL, mentioning that it was something that needed to be worked upon as swiftly as possible.

In an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda, the Portuguese manager shed light on how the caliber of the referees in the ISL needed an enormous upgrade.

“There are some referees currently that just don’t have the quality to work in football. In my opinion, one of the primary things that India and the ISL must do is improve the quality of referees,” Jorge Costa commented.

Though the ISL has seen a surge in quality over the years, one of the aspects that has remained a talking point has been the nature of officiating.

Even during the 2019-20 ISL campaign, numerous managers, including Jorge Costa, complained on how certain inexplicable decisions proved to be the deciding tilting scale in tight encounters.

“Let me give you just one example that could’ve changed the entire ISL season. In our last game against Chennaiyin FC, Amine [Chermiti] was 1v1 with the keeper and he was brought down outside the area by the keeper. The referee gave a free-kick but not a red card. The game was 0-0 then and it would’ve been 11 against 10 [had a red card been issued]. After 10 seconds, Sourav Das is sent off and rightly so. But, that one decision changed the game,” Jorge Costa said.

Mumbai City FC endured a spate of injuries in the 2019-20 ISL season

Paulo Machado didn't play a single game in 2020 (Image Credits: ISL)

For much of the 2019-20 ISL campaign, Mumbai City FC had been ravaged by injuries. To put things into perspective, Mato Grgic endured an extended spell on the side-lines at the outset whereas their talismanic skipper Paulo Machado failed to play a single game in 2020.

Elsewhere, Sarthak Golui also suffered a season-ending injury in January 2020, meaning that the Islanders were short-handed at the back for the business end of the ISL.

When quizzed if there were any regrets Jorge Costa had, the Portuguese emphasized that he was proud of the way his troops had conducted themselves. However, after a bit of introspection, he conceded that there were a couple of aspects that he would’ve liked to alter.

“I don’t regret anything as such because my boys gave everything. But, after three months, now I realize that we had some difficulties in the budget, especially during December. We looked to put some more quality in the team but the club didn’t make any effort to make the team stronger by adding a couple of players. I feel we didn’t do our best to replace him to finish in the top four and that is perhaps something that I would want to change,” Costa elaborated.

Post the culmination of the 2019-20 ISL season, Jorge Costa has been on the hunt for another managerial assignment, after Mumbai City FC failed to renew his contract.

However, it now seems that the Portuguese could be on his way back to the ISL with him admitting that he has been weighing up a couple of proposals.

At this point though, it remains to be seen if the former Champions League winner would grace Indian shores and be able to have another bite at the ISL cherry that eluded him at Mumbai City FC.