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Football
By S. R. Suryanarayan
Sankar was on the line for three matches — Croatia v Mexico, Tunisia v Belgium and Russia v Belgium — and all three had gone smoothly for him. ``My work was accepted without any discussion in the daily match review, which the Chairman of the Referees, Mr. Routh of Germany, conducts,'' he said in a chat with The Hindu soon after his arrival in the city late on Thursday night. Sankar, who was based in Japan, said he was never tense or nervous when he stepped on to the turf for his first match at Niigata. ``Just that everything looked so overwhelming, the crowd and the noise. In the gathering there certainly were some Indians for I could hear my name being called,'' he said. About the uniqueness of the competition, he said everything was meticulously planned right from picking the officials from the Hotel. ``Everything is timed to a second. If an official is late, others do not suffer. They leave him behind only to be picked by another standby vehicle. Nearly an hour-long briefing by the Chairman precedes the work in the middle. So much so, we would be longing for the actual action to begin,'' Sankar said. On whether he found the players' actions intimidating or the speed unsettling, the Chennai-based Indian Bank employee, said, "I did not encounter any problem with the players. Yes, the speed was something I thought was one of the features of this Cup,'' said Sankar, who had officiated in tough competitions like the Confederations Cup in 1998 and a host of pre-World Cup matches. Sankar also said that the way some players feigned fouls, made it a tough job for the Referees. ``It is difficult to be cent per cent accurate on the foul act. In that speed sometimes the human eye can mislead but not the intent of the player concerned. Besides, it is the flow of the game that matters. It is much more easier to pass judgement watching the slow motion on television,'' Sankar said, on the murmurs heard about refereeing. On why FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter had some harsh comments on Assistant Referees, Sankar felt the media could have generalised his views when actually they were directed at a couple of poor off-side rulings. ``In fact he had spoken to all of us and there was no suggestion that he was displeased. He only encouraged us as did several other top officials including AFC General Secretary, Mr. Peter Velappan,'' he said. As to why he had to return so soon, the Indian official said, while two matches per Assistant Referee formed the initial criteria, anything beyond that was based on performance, earlier experience, teams involved and a touch of luck too. ``Of the 72 officials, only eight Referees and Assistant Referees are retained each in Japan and Korea after the first phase,'' he said. Some of the memories that will linger in Sankar include the experience of supervising in a World Cup, meeting various luminaries of the sport — though he missed the legendary Pele who was absent — and of course, the spectacular settings in Japan. ``There is this Sapporo stadium which has a moveable roof and a natural turf which is laid in place only for the competition. Other times the whole playing surface is shifted away from arena underground,'' he said.
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