Referees may face disciplinary action

Ther match officials who served in Sunday’s rescheduled TT Super League game between hosts Siparia Spurs and FC Santa Rosa may face disciplinary action, according to Joseph Taylor, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Referees Association (TTFRA).

Santa Rosa won the encounter 5-2 at the Palo Seco Velodrome with the trio of referee Roger Smith and his assistants Devon London and Junior Geoffrey deciding to officiate the game an end the boycott of FC Santa Rosa games. “All we’re saying is that the Referees Committee never appointed anybody to that game,” said Taylor, during a telephone interview.

Taylor stated, “I think it’s an aspect of what we do as referees that we have to discuss. But I am saying internally, as a body, we’ll be definitely looking at that. I wouldn’t say they would be victimised but we would look at it seriously – it has implications.”

Taylor added, “There is a process by which referees are appointed to games. That is what we are first of all going to deal with. We have processes and procedures so we’re going to deal with it.”

Taylor was speaking on the heels of a media release issued by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) yesterday, in which a compromise was reached regarding the feud between the TTFRA and the TT Super League.

Keith Look Loy, president of the Super League and coach of FC Santa Rosa, and his assistant at Santa Rosa, Jovan Rochford, were recently slapped with $1,000 fines and banned for one game each for abusive language towards referee Cecile Hinds. Taylor was adamant the punishment handed towards Look Loy was too lenient, and also questioned the safety of match officials at FC Santa Rosa games.

Look Loy, in a telephone interview yesterday, expressed his hope that his club, as well as the officials who served in Sunday’s game, would not be victimised. The TTFA held a meeting at its Board Room, Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva on Monday, which was attended by members of the TTFRA, TT Super League and the TTFA Referees Department. According to the TTFA media release, “in the interest of ‘the beautiful game’ and despite the lingering of deep concerns by the Referees’ Committee, the stakeholders present agreed to forge ahead with the remaining rounds of the (Super League) season with a commitment to respect the officials as well as the authority and decisions of the League’s integral segments.”

The media release also noted, “it was mandated that no segment participating in the League’s operations would further air their discontent in such a manner as to bring the League and/or its officials into public disrepute or odium.” Look Loy and Rochford have agreed to stand down from their coaching duties for the December 3 encounter against Police at the Arima Velodrome despite feeling they served their bans when they were absent from Sunday’s game vs Siparia Spurs.

Taylor insisted, “We felt they must serve the ban this game that we appointed referees to.”

Look Loy has been typically outspoken in his comments over the standard of officiating in local football and was pleased to note that there would be a national consultation on the state of refereeing in January.