AIFF's Chief Refereeing Officer Trevor Kettle Claims Standard Of Referees In India Improving

Poor refereeing in Indian Super League (ISL) has long been a source of frustration for many coaches, but national federation's top officer Trevor Kettle on Sunday claimed that standard of referees in country is "improving in many competencies".

Several coaches of ISL clubs, mostly foreign, have in past talked about poor standard of refereeing in top-tier league and even All India Football Federation's (AIFF) President Kalyan Chaubey h expressed concerns on matter a few months back.

most recent incident involved two controversial referee decisions during Kerala Blasters vs Hyderab FC match in Kochi a few days ago. But Kettle, AIFF's Chief Refereeing Officer (CRO), highlighted improvements me by Indian referees when asked about his views in context of several past and present foreign coaches expressing disappointment on refereeing standard at ISL.

" standards of referees in India are improving in many competencies, including growing confidence to take stronger disciplinary action, improved fitness standards to maintain pace with game, less prone to being deceived by players simulating or exaggerating, and allowing more game flow," Kettle told PTI.

" accuracy of Key Match Incident (KMI) decisions is w being accurately monitored as prime indicator of refereeing performance with a reach target of 85%. Interestingly, results of pre-season He Coach survey on referees, on aver, expected an accuracy of 82.5% without aid of VAR techlogy.

"At present, KMI % accuracy fluctuates around this level but would improve to approximately 97% with VAR (Video Assistant Referee) implementation." re is VAR in ISL and AIFF is hoping to start techlogy from next season onwards.

Asked about apparent refereeing blunder in Kerala Blasters vs Hyderab FC match, he said, "Each match official’s performance, along with referee assessors' independent report, is monitored with new processes introduced over past two years. accuracy of every KMI in each ISL game is checked by a panel of current AFC Referee Assessors and ex-FIFA referees.

" outcome of se KMI reviews drives technical training requirement for elite match officials to furr educate with ultimate aim of continuous improvement.

"Referees are t infallible, like players, and will make errors of judgment and at times this unfortunately impacts result of a game. Referees are held accountable for continued inaccurate KMI decision-making and will t be prioritized for future appointments." On December 31, 2023, Chaubey, in an unprecedented move, h come down heavily on referee department for mounting refereeing errors in 2023-24 season ISL and I-League, saying re was an “urgent need for accountability”.

"A number of video clips were shown which highlighted incidents of perceived errors forwarded by various stakeholders. It was accepted that some of se decisions were incorrect but ors were indeed correct," Kettle said when asked about n meeting of Chaubey with several stakeholders.

"I have created an open dialogue with clubs who w have a direct point of contact in me as CRO at AIFF to express ir concerns on refereeing matters." On issues he has flagged to AIFF in this regard, he said, "I have often requested assistance ... to explain refereeing decisions to wider stakeholders for greater transparency and understanding of LOTG (Laws of Game) whilst also displaying empathy with human error of referees.

"A he coaches meeting for both ISL and I-League is highly recommended every pre-season to improve relationships, mutual respect and clarification of LOTG interpretation." He said long-term continued investment in Elite Referee Development Plan, providing necessary technical support to referees and allowing match officials to take on full-time professional contracts is absolutely imperative if refereeing standards are to improve.

"We must understand that refereeing is t yet a highly-paid job in India. In most cases, referees take it up as a part-time profession. However, AIFF is continuously pursuing policy of having full-time referees.

"At moment, re are eight referees and seven assistant referees, who are on a full-time contract with AIFF. ir contracts have once again been renewed early this month.

"At same time, we are thankful to AIFF for working continuously for referees’ development. Centre of Referees Excellence (CORE) has alrey been set up in two cities -- Gwalior (MP) and Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala)."