Need for retrospective punishment
LET OFF LIGHTLY Malouda’s cynical tackle deserved red
NEW DELHI: The few thousands who braved the chill at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Thursday saw four goals, the last of them a freekick too good and too late to be termed a consolation; and five yellow cards, the last of them bringing along a red card. But in Delhi Dynamos’ 3-1 win against FC Pune City, what lingered on was what did not happen: a red card to Dynamos’ Florent Malouda.
With Dynamos two goals up, both through corners — first one a rebound off Adil Nabi’s belly and second a superb header by Anas Edathodika — there was little pressure on the hosts to justify Malouda’s horrendous 58th minute tackle on Pune midfielder Sushanth Mathew. The former French international had no intention of shielding the ball from the on rushing Sushanth, and landed his boot straight on his shins. Referee Tejas Nagvenkar, however, saw nothing more than a yellow card. ELSEWHERE In another league, in another country, the Frenchman would have been assured of a retrospective ban. Indian Super League, whose disciplinary committee is formed by the All India Football Federation, however, does not have any provision for retrospective punishment. But Malouda’s tackle, and the referee’s failure to spot it correctly, highlight why that shouldn’t be the case.
Adil Nabi, Dynamos’ forward on loan from West Bromwich Albion, has done a lot of good since his move to India, but scoring a goal wasn’t one of them. An opportune use of his abdominal muscles ensured that bleak record ended on Thursday. But it remains to be seen if that would be enough to convince the folks in England to bestow him with this year’s Asian Football Awards.
Nabi, an Englishman of Pakistan origin, is nominated for the best player award alongside Wolverhampton’s Danny Batth and Swansea’s Neil Taylor. The award is the idea of UK-bazed Baljit Rihal to support footballers of South Asian origin.