Ever since the fixture was announced, one wondered what India would gain from by hosting a match that, in its context, was of no consequence. The critics had their answers when the referee blew the whistle to signal the start of the match.
In fact, it was the team of referees who surprised all. In what seemed to be a bold move, the men officiating the tie were all Indians. A Rohan was the main referee, who was assisted by Biplab Poddar and Dinesh Nair, Pratap Singh was the fourth referee and AIFF referee’s in-charge Goutam Kar was the match commissioner.
Nair, one may recall, was at the centre of the controversy that prompted Bob Houghton to resign as India coach. Nair had levelled racism charges against the Englishman, which were later dropped.
The jury is out on whether the decision to have Indian referees in charge of such a high-profile encounter is a good idea. These are the referees, who are criticised for their below-par performance in the I-League. The AIFF, in fact, has been mulling the option of having foreign referees officiate in the domestic league to raise the standard.
The federation, though, is of the opinion that the sole purpose of having Indian referees officiate the tie is to help them gain some valuable experience. The officials, however, had a good match apart from a few debatable decisions in the first half, at the end of which were cornered by the Venezuelan players for showing too much respect to the Argentine players.
