New Delhi: Atletico de Kolkata's temperamental coach Antonio Lopez Habas yesterday created a flutter when he said that his team was suffering from refereeing bias in the ISL.
"Today we were denied of two clear penalties (Fikru being allegedly felled) by the referee. I don't know why the referees have been against us from the beginning of the league," Habas expressed his views through his interpreter.
Habas has already been suspended for two matches for allegedly assaulting FC Goa captain Robert Piers and venting his ire against match officials. The actions may not go down well with parent body and organisers. Habas is on a two-match suspended sentence but his comments are expected to be closely monitored.
While he said that he was "happy" with his team's performance, he wasn't exactly happy with the result.
When asked why Luis Garcia wasn't fielded, Habas replied: "A coach knows which Player to use and what time. Well I wanted to use Garcia but Biswajit Saha got injured and I had to shelve my plans."
Delhi Dynamos coach said that ATK's defensive tactics did create problems.
"I didn't expect ATK to be so defensive. You can say it's hard to play against a team that plays for a point. Souvik (Chakraborty) missed a great chance. I was surprised to not find Garcia in the line-up but one look at their midfield combination made it clear as to what was their aim. I am not complaining as players gave it all that they had," Dynamos couch Harm Van Veldhoven said.
He was asked an obvious question about Alessandro del Piero looking lackadaisical during practice and he gave a curt reply: "I didn't see what you saw. Also I concentrate on players who are playing the game.
