Yes, we have no referees!

Lack of officials has blighted the MSSA under-13 mini basketball tournament

MUMBAI: Bad umpiring or poor refereeing are household names when it comes to events organised by the Mumbai School Sports Association. And if one needed evidence of this, they should look no further than the St Joseph’s High School basketball courts in Wadala.

Ten matches a day and two umpires is the sad story of this mini basketball tournament for both boys and girls which began on January 2. And to keep the show on the road, boys of the organising school are chipped in to assist the umpires. Atul Yadav is one of those boys.

“I give my best,” says Atul, a VI standard student from the school. It has been a baptism of fire for Atul as an official. “I have been doing this job since the tournament started and will keep doing so,” adds Atul, who is a pivotal part of the host team, St Joseph’s High School.

While the umpires were making the headlines at the Sydney Cricket ground, the under-13 boys and girls taking part in the basketball tournament experienced nothing different.
At least only two teams suffered at the SCG; at the Wadala there were 68 teams who had to face the brunt of the poor umpiring, and who played their matches with just one official.

“We have lost the match because the official was the sports teacher of the opponent school,” says one of the teachers on condition of anonymity. This has been happening for the last six days since the tournament started on January 2.

“There are 10 matches on any given day, but there are no referees, and to keep the show going, we are left with boys officiating or the school teachers accompanying the team,” says Anand Patole, the venue in-charge at the St Joseph’s school court.

Meanwhile, the organisers of this championship, which awaits the winners the Esmero Figueiredo Trophy, are busy listing out the celebrities who will be in attendance for the final of the semifinal league which is slated for January 12. The semifinal league is to begin from January 10.

“If the MSSA is not giving a thought to this official crisis, I am sure this will leave a bad taste,” adds Patole.

“There is a dearth of officials, and we have to run the tournament the way we are doing,” is what an MSSA official had to say about the whole issue. But at the end of the day it is the sport and the budding children who suffer. “We do feel sorry for them but we are helpless. And there is very little time before these children take to books for the final exams, and we have to finish the tournaments,” are the consoling words the official has to offer.