Refereeing howlers: Smoking gun tells it all

By Callistus Davy

Even technology and television replays that come along with the vast strides rugby has made, don’t seem to have created space for justice in Sri Lanka’s domestic first class inter club Premier League where players have become either semi-professional if not professional with some of them straight from leaving their school books.

Last Sunday’s high profile contest between the defending champions Kandy SC and the vastly improved CH and FC at Nittawela was a classic case where substandard poor quality refereeing was exposed for the whole world to see raising questions on whether match officials should be imported like most products in the country to replace what is home made.

What happened in the latest episode in a litany of many woes against refereeing drawbacks in Sri Lanka drew the red line after Kandy SC prop Milan Weerasinghe scored that no amount of proof will be needed to declare that while players have moved ahead, the referees have not.

The conversation or communication between the on-field referee Gihan Yatawara and the ultimate television match official whose job it is to clear the air on what confuses the naked eye, made interesting hearing where a disallowed try was over-ruled with evidence from all angles in contrast to what Yatawara saw and conveyed.

“On-field decision not a try. It was a double movement and held up”, Yatawara told television referee Anil Jayasinghe whose ruling he sought.

Jayasinghe watches the replays that thousands more witnessed on their television screens and conveys to Yatawara. “The grounding (of the ball) is okay, just a one roll, no double movement. You may award the try”. 

There is hesitation on the part of Yatawara and Jayasinghe nudges him with the question: “Are you in agreement with me”.

Yatawara replies: “Anil (Jayasinghe) for me it was a double roll (by the ball career on the ground before scoring)”.

Jayasinghe then gets back to Yatawara for the last time and says: “If you don’t agree, you can go with your own decision”.

But Yatawara, who wanted Jayasinghe’s ruling on the try, over-rules the man who could have shielded him and officially disallows the try.

In football protesting players are allowed to crowd round the referee. In rugby yellow and red cards can spill out like a wending machine and players leave it to their investing bosses to take up with evidence of a smoking gun.