SCG President Peter Vaz miffed with refereeing standards in I-League after Bengaluru draw

THE FLAMING ORANJES are not happy with the way things went down on Sunday against Bengaluru FC; and the refereeing standards in that game has them frowning. 

Sporting Clube de Goa held onto a desperate draw against the Federation Cup holders at Fatorda after being reduced to 10 men due to Loveday Enyinnaya being carded twice within 2 minutes. The first yellow, which also resulted in a penalty, looked disputable as John Johnson seemed to go down very easily on a light touch.

Towards the end, as both teams jostled for a winner, Sporting Clube de Goa were unlucky again as a couple of free-kicks from well within scoring range were not awarded to them.

The home club's president Peter Vaz believed that his side deserved to win and missed out on making a double against Bengaluru FC this season due to poor officiating. In a statement, he said,

“For the greater good of Indian Football the referring standards in I-league need to improve drastically. It isn't one odd incident, we have seen this happen throughout. The Goan teams especially Sporting are at the receiving end always, in the pre-match press conference yesterday even the BFC head coach agreed that we were denied a clear penalty against Mohun Bagan a match we deserved to win. Now here again a series of decisions going against us, I need not say much its right there in front of your eyes.”

The quality of refereeing has been the subject of a regular debate this season. A couple of weeks back, BFC gaffer Ashley Westwood had also complained about being on the receiving end of poor refereeing decisions. 

Sharing points meant Sporting Clube de Goa and Bengaluru FC remained fourth and second on the league table respectively; unable to use this opportunity to close in on those above them.