Sudeep Pakrashi:
Kishan Chand Joshi wants to say goodbye to referring! The reason is the All India Football Federation’s new policy on referees by its referee committee.
The new policy that was surprisingly circulated to the country’s some category-1 and category-2 referees in WhatsApp messages said that the referees who failed to pass the Fitness Test twice for the 2024-25 season would be demoted from their respective categories in the 2025-26 season.
The Delhi-based referee who received the award of best assistant referee of the ISL 2022-23 raises voice against the policy. While speaking to Parallel Sports from Delhi on Tuesday, Joshi said, “Yes, I failed the Fitness Test, conducted in August last year. Then a Fitness test was again conducted just before the ISL and I passed that. I also failed the same Fitness Test, held in July this year.
“But does that mean a category-2 referee would be dropped to category-6? If you fail the final in the 12th standard examination, do you start studying from the fifth standard? Or are you asked to prepare for the examination in the fifth standard? Couldn’t it have been realistic that they demoted me from category-2 to category-3 for failing in the Fitness Test instead of category-6?”
The 41-year-old referee, who is also surprised to have seen the AIFF Referees’ Committee’s decision, asked, “Even after failing in the Fitness Test last year, how was I allowed to officiate nine ISL matches, including a Play-Off match and five I-League matches last season?”
Kishan concluded, “I do not want to continue refereeing. I am 41 years old. I have no regrets. I worked as both an assistant and a match-officiating referee in the country’s top-tier football as well as internationally. But if nobody stands against this unfair policy now, it will continue to affect future generations of referees. Someone has to stand up for what is right.”
However, it is believed that the AIFF referees’ Committee is unlikely to implement the ‘new guidelines’ of drastically demoting the referees from their respective categories. It is also believed that retainment of referees in their respective categories is likely to be implemented and it is waiting for th approval from executive committee.
