The Hindu : Sport / Football : Blatant violation of rules

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 16, 2005

Sport

Sport - Football

Blatant violation of rules

Special Correspondent

KOCHI: Are rules meant to be broken? Indeed, it would seem so if one were to consider the grave violation of the Laws of the Game that has occurred through two successive Group D matches of the ongoing Air India Express-60th Santosh Trophy here. The issue in question relates to Law 4 regarding the players' equipment and the provision, which clearly states that each goalkeeper should wear, colours that distinguish him from the other players, the referee and the assistant referees.

In direct infringement to the above rule, either by oversight or absolute ignorance of the Laws of the Game, the two certain instances have only thrown light on how seriously the rules are followed in India.

In the Manipur-Assam tie on Saturday, the goalkeepers of both the sides wore yellow jerseys, the same colour worn by the referee of the day and his assistants. And again on Tuesday, the custodians of both Assam and Goa, the referee and the assistant referees, all sported red! In fact, the explanatory memorandum to the rules is more specific as it answers a possible question:

According to Law 4, the players of each team and their goalkeepers must wear jerseys or shirts of different colours to distinguish them from the other players.

Whom to blame?

The AIFF-appointed Match Commissioner is the last word so

far as the implementation of the Laws of the Game are concerned. Incidentally, the Match Commissioner for the current tournament, B.N.G. Neogi, was not even present at the FACT ground, Udyomandal, on Wednesday morning when Goa played Assam. True, rules are meant only to be broken.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport