ISL: SC East Bengal To File Complaint Against Referee Over “Questionable Decisions”

FC Goa and SC East Bengal might have played out a 1-1 draw but the Red and Golds brigade was clearly not happy with the poor decisions, made in their game on Wednesday in the ongoing Indian Super League (ISL). The Robbie Fowler coached side is set to lodge a complaint with the Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and against referee Arumughan Rowan, Goal.com reported. In what was initially a cagey contest, East Bengal had taken the lead through Bright Enobakhare’s (79′) stunning solo goal. But Goa fought back with a goal from substitute Devendra Murgaonkar (81′) to deny their opponents a second successive win, who were brought down to 10 men in the second half.

As per a report in Goal.com, Rowan, who officiated the match on Wednesday evening, made poor decisions in the game that changed the fate of the match, according to the club management.

“After every match, the club can give official feedback about the referee. Along with that feedback, we are also lodging a complaint with the AIFF and the FSDL about two major decisions that were questionable. These things need to be corrected because the team is getting affected a lot,” Goal.com quoted an East Bengal official as saying.

“The first one is Bright’s second goal which was disallowed. The replays clearly suggest that Surchandra Singh did not touch Mohammed Nawaz and it was an FC Goa player with whom the goalkeeper had collided,” the official further said.

“The second one is the red card of Danny Fox because when the challenge happened, the referee initially took out the yellow card but it was the assistant referee who suggested that it is a straight red. We feel it was harsh, it was a 50-50 challenge and he got the ball. If East Bengal had 11 players, it would have been a different scoreline,” he added.

Promoted

This is the second time in the ongoing seventh season of ISL, that East Bengal is lodging a complaint against a match official.

East Bengal is currently at ninth place in the ISL points table with seven points from nine games. The side will next take on Bengaluru FC on Saturday.