A disallowed goal brings ISL’s poor referring into the spotlight again

Alan Costa’s goal is the difference as Benglauru FC beats NorthEast United FC at the Sri Kanteerava Stadium. An engrossing contest from start to finish which ended in an ugly manner. NEUFC were certain that they had equalized in added time only for the goal to be ruled offside.

Referee Blunder in ISL

NorthEast United will certainly feel hard done after a controversial offside call denied them a crucial equaliser in stoppage time at the Sree Kanteerva Stadium in Bengaluru. Bengaluru FC walked away with all three points, thanks to a late Alan Costa winner. The game also saw NEUFC head coach Marco Balbul sent off for a confrontation with the linesman following the incident.

The NEUFC head coach was furious after that and he was then shown the red card. Coming back to the game though, in the first half Roshan Naorem and Jithin M.S were the two standout performers for both teams. There were chances but neither side could take it. In the second half, the game became more and more cagey with chances at a premium.

One big chance did come though in the 87th minute and Alan Costa made sure his headed effort found the back of the net and the game ended 1-0 in favor of BFC. Jon Gaztanaga seemed to have scored the equaliser for the Highlanders with a stunning strike from the edge of the box. However, the goal was ruled out for an offside call by the linesman leading to confrontation with the NorthEast United players.

It was the assistant referee on the far-right of the field who had initially blown his whistle. The reasoning – as the shot was going into goal – a Northeast United player was offside. The decision had been made. Northeast United would be denied their equaliser. Replays later showed that the player was not offside nor did he come in contact with the ball. The goal that should have stood, was taken away. NEUFC’s Israeli coach Marco Balbul, was shown a red card by the referee for protesting.

Paul spoke about the offside goal that led to his side’s defeat. He said that the authorities should look into the matter and decide the next course of action. “Everybody can see the replay, I don’t need to say anything about the referee. We play our football in our way and we hope to improve. The higher authorities should look into it and decide what is to be done,” he asserted.

The Virtual Assistant Referee (VAR) is not available in Indian football, mostly due to the costs involved. The ISL has taken certain steps in the past in an attempt to bring about better refereeing overall. In 2021, as reported by PTI, FSDL and AIFF promised investments of 10 crores into the development of Indian referees over three years. This was set to be done with guidance from The Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOL), who provide referees to the English Premier League.