Refereeing blunders mar Kandy SC’s unbeaten run
The Dialog Rugby Club League Championship 2019/20 may have been completed with Kandy Sports Club juggernaut being crowned champions just before the Coronavirus pandemic resulted in sports activities being suspended, but the perennial debate about the standard of refereeing will continue to linger on.
Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) tried to appease clubs by bringing down a foreign referee for key games but fingers were even pointed at him by the Referees Society while some matches were played under protest against the designated local referee.
It came to a head when Havelocks hosted Kandy SC in a first-round clash with the Park Club waging all-out war against the referee concerned. Their objections appeared justified when the SLR Match Review Committee found the referee Aaqil Jamaldeen wanting with only three of the 12 mistakes pointed out by Havelocks who lost the match 22-10 being incorrect.
Similarly, Police seemed to at the receiving end of poor decisions against Kandy SC at Nittawela with the Match Review Committee unanimously declaring that 11 out of the 13 incidents reported by Police were correct. Kandy SC romped to a 40-24 victory in what turned out to be the final match of the league but former Police and Sri Lanka prop Hafeez Marso in a detailed unofficial analysis railed at the referee Priyantha Gunaratne alleging bias.
“The final score does not at all reflect how the game was played. Initial decisions and especially the last 10 minutes of the game did the dirty tricks which ended up with two tries. Collapsing the two driving mauls off line-outs within five metres of the opponent’s goal area in the first half, no yellow cards given for two consecutive neck tackles – not even a warning; blowing off side in open play, falling over the opponent’s ruck in the last minute which ended up in a try, are a few to mention. Police with no stars not even a single national player did match the so-called unbeaten champions, the Kandy SC in all departments of the game. Police did not deserve to be the losers even despite all the odds. If it was a impartial referee or a foreign referee, the results would have been different,” said Marso sharing parts of a WhatsApp discussion he had with former referees and players on the incidents related to this game.
Citing video evidence, he pointed out the blunders made by the referee in the opening minutes of the game as follows:
A: @ 04 min. 08 secs
Kandy no. 8 Buwenaka Udangamuwa, the superhuman dashing a Police player. 1st foul or dangerous play (f/dp) by Kandy. Scores 05/00 Kandy’s favour.
B: @ 08 min. 02 secs
Neck tackle by No. 10 Kandy player (Nigel) Should have been a yellow card on no. 10 but only a general warning given by the referee of the highest integrity Mr. Priyantha Gunaratne. 2nd
f/dp by Kandy. Scores 07/05 in favour of Police
C: @ 11mins. 51 secs
Kandy Sayuro Anthony plays from the side at the maul off the Police line out won by Police. Referee plays advantage and at the same time (@12 mins. 10 secs.) Kandy no 10 Nigel starts off early before the ball was passed from the maul (a plum intentional off side). Police backs works beautifully, the ball ended in Sachith Silva’s hands who beat two Kandy players with only about 3 metres to the try line and ultimately (@ 12 mins. 18 secs.) no. 15 Dansha Dayan held by Sajith’s neck (3rd d/fp) and threw him out of the touch line when the latter (Sajith) passed the ball Police no 9 Saranga but it ended as a forward pass due to the impact (neck tackle). Scores 07/05 in favour of Police.
Gentlemen now we got to analyse (PART C) the play duration of 27 secs (from 11 mins. 51 secs to 12 mins. 18 secs.
1. There had been three infringements (a) playing from the side in the maul (b) intentional off- side play by the back and (c) neck – tackle by Kandy no 15.
2. Now if referee has played advantage for 27 secs. why he did not award the penalty for the high tackle committed under his nose. Then what about the Assistant Referee, didn’t he see it being in the touch line at the very spot of the incident. If he didn’t, he is not fit to run touch. Does the law prevent giving the penalty at the most advantageous position of the infringements committed by the opposing team. Please refer the Laws of the Game.
3. Has the referee of the highest integrity and so do the Assistant Referee purposely ignored the 3rd d/fp to favour the Kandy team to keep Dansha Dayan on the field without giving the yellow card since the general warning was already given.
4. How can a team commit three infringements as shown at (1) above within a space of 27 secs just like that. Have they been told not to worry about those and to play regardless?
The SLR Match Review Committee concurred that 11 out of 13 incidents reported by Police in the match against Kandy to be valid and correct
Taking into consideration on the findings of the Review Committee, Police would have won the match 31-26, according to Marso. Police finished the league in second position with 60 points, 22 behind Kandy SC.
“The Review Committee held that the high tackle (neck) on Sachith Silva @ 12 min. and 18 seconds. was a penalty try for Police. (+7 points); agreed that the offender Dansha Dayan should be red carded for the high tackle which mean that from the 12th minute onwards till the end of play Dansha Dayan will not be able play. It leaves the Kandy to play with 14. However, Kandy survived yet another day because of the referee and the AR. Danush Dayan went on to score two tries. Police lost the advantage of playing against 14. Also the Review Commitee decided that the last two converted tries scored by Kandy when scores was 26/24 in favour of Kandy were due to critical errors made by the referee Priyantha Gunaratne. (-14),” he stated.
“Besides the monumental blunders made by the Referee and the two Assistant Referees that deprived Police the win they richly deserved; what is more important in this whole scenario is to see whether there had been any premeditated attempts, or being bias/partial towards a team. We know that referees are human, hence mistakes/errors do happen and it is inevitable. But then those lapses cannot go beyond marginal errors. In the case of this review, the way the Referee and Assistant Referees have acted cannot be considered to be minor errors. The following failures on the part of the referee are considered major lapses: 1. No red card on no. 15 for High Tackle 2. Not awarding a penalty try. 3. No yellow card on no. 104. Two converted tries scored by Kandy during the last 10 minutes of the game were due to the critical errors of the referee.The referee has more than 15 years experience officiating A Division Rugby matches. Simple question is, can a person with vast experience commit such grave mistakes is anybody’s guess. Obviously, there is an element of suspicion of wrong doings being committed,” alleged Marso, a retired Deputy Inspector General of Police.
He urged the SLR to act on the Citing Commissioner Saman Kotalawela’s report related to dangerous play.
“We hear that the report of the Citing Commissioner is yet to be received by SLR. It should have been given within 24 hours after the match. Will the Citing Commissioner give his report? Will the report be a contrast one to the findings of the Match Review Committee? If it so, what is the next cause of action the SLR is going to take? If by any chance the Citing Commissioner does not give the report, what is the action the SLR going to take? We must understand that the SLR having got the findings of the Match Review Committee regarding the foul play and dangerous play, the Citing Report will be a vital document to prove the impartiality and the consistency of the Match Officials. On the other hand, the offenders who committed foul play / dangerous play will be encouraged to be scot – free without the Citing Report,” he pointed out.