ISL: FC Goa lodge complaint to AIFF over ‘poor standard’ of refereeing

FC Goa have lodged a formal complaint with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) regarding the standard of refereeing in the ongoing Indian Super League and have also sought clarification over certain decisions in their matches against Kerala Blasters and NorthEast United earlier this month.

The club said in a statement that it has written to the AIFF's Referee's Department regarding the decisions during their matches played on January 2 and 14. FC Goa had drawn 2-2 and 1-1 against Kerala Blasters and NorthEast United in the two matches, respectively.

It said "the standard of decision making demonstrated was below the required and desired standards of professional football." "We're pained and disappointed with the standard of refereeing that the team has been subjected to. We've held the referees in the highest esteem and have always accounted for a margin of error on tight calls," FC Goa's Director of Football Ravi Puskur said.

"However, since the turn of the year, there have been two clear cut decisions in two different games that indicate the standard of decision making demonstrated was below the required and desired standards of professional football," he added.

The club has sought clarity over several decisions in these two matches, including the invalidation of a goal against NorthEast United in their last game which would have placed the team a goal ahead with 10 minutes to play.

The team has also sought clarity on the decision to not award a penalty to it in the match against Kerala Blasters. A yellow card was instead handed to Jorge Ortiz for simulation.

It said a "clear contact was made and the player was impeded while attempting to get into a goal scoring position".

The club said the decisions had an adverse effect on their points tally in the season so far.

"We owe it to our players, staff and our fans to seek an explanation on the same. We await to hear back on the response from the referees dept."