International referees to cool tempers in Kolkata

Any talk of Indian football is incomplete without the mention of East Bengal or Mohun Bagan — one of the biggest derbies in the world. Only a few rivalries in football are so fierce, so melodramatic and so socio-economically significant.

Allegations, counter-allegations, players indulging in what sometimes resembles a street fight, crowd hooliganism... a Kolkata derby more often than not turns out to be a security man’s nightmare.

In order to make the on-field events pass off smoothly, the Indian Football Association (IFA, West Bengal’s governing body) has decided to rope in international referees to officiate in the match.

And for the upcoming tie of the Calcutta Football League on January 7, they could not have got a better referee, Uzbekistan’s Ravshan Irmatov. This is the first time such a high-profile international referee will officiate in a match in India.

Irmatov comes fresh from officiating in the recently concluded Club World Cup final between two football giants, Brazilian club Santos and Spanish champions Barcelona. Irmatov is by far the best referee in Asia.

Not only has he won the Asian Football Confederation’s Referee of the Year four times in a row, including 2011, but he is the only referee from the continent to officiate in the first match of the World Cup.

He was the referee for the 2010 World Cup opener between South Africa and Mexico, and at 32, is the youngest official to take charge of the first match of the quadrennial event.

“The idea is to have a fair game,” said IFA secretary Utpal Ganguly.

“Often in the past we have had instances where the two teams have accused each other of influencing the referee. So if we have a foreigner officiating the match, that will not happen,” Ganguly said, adding that an official announcement about Irmatov’s appointment will be made on Thursday.

But despite his vast experience, the Kolkata derby possesses a unique challenge for Irmatov because of the bad blood between the two clubs. During their I-League match last month, Mohun Bagan had accused East Bengal of purposely cutting power in the stadium when the former was leading by a goal. The power went off in the 85th minute and returned after 20 minutes. In an ill-tempered end to the match, Bagan somehow held on to the lead and won the match.

Irmatov is likely to be assisted by two other referees from Uzbekistan, Abdukhamid Rasulov and Zhahangir Saidov.