The ongoing Saff Championship has been marred by poor refereeing with Bangladesh and Pakistan positioned at the top of the sufferers list.
Bangladesh head coach Lodewijk de Kruif categorically stated that India scored the equaliser on 94 minutes 23 seconds what can also be said in the 95th minute. However, the official added time was three minutes and which was also questionable as not that much time was wasted in the second-half. Not to say that the mode of the awarded free-kick was also very much controversial.
Even the Indian journalists who are covering the meet said the Sri Lankan referee Crishantha Perera was inconsistent. The same referee did not show the red card to Indian goalie Subrata Paul when he brought a Pakistani forward down at the edge of the box in the India-Pakistan match. Instead he was shown the yellow card.
The allotment of the Sri Lankan referee in the Bangladesh-India match also had raised many eyebrows as there were referees from Middle East.
Hosts Nepal pulled out a dramatic draw against Pakistan on Tuesday with another stoppage time strike and it was also surrounded by controversy. A Pakistan player requesting anonymity said it was a clear foul as two of the Nepalese players pushed the Pakistan goalie in the air and he in consequence lost the balance as well as the flight of the ball and Nepal scored the goal.
These incidents took place at the most crucial time of the matches and changed the whole scenario. The teams who suffered with the poor decisions had to obtain irreversible damages. This certainly would not help the development of sub-continental football.
