She is smart and agile, simple in appearance but firm in resolution.  Meet Ms. Bentila D’Couth, the first ever FIFA (Federation International de Football Association) lady referee from the SARC countries.  Bentila has been in the black uniform for more than a decade, from 2001, and officiated scores

of  international matches. She is a familiar name among the football fans across the globe,   thanks to her impeccable track record as an unbiased, coolheaded referee with a firm resolve.  But unfortunately this international football celebrity is little known in her home state, Kerala.  Benty, as she is affectionately addressed, brought unparalleled admiration to the nation, when she became the first Indian woman to wear the black uniform to control an Olympics football thriller in 2004. She was a field referee for three matches in the Athens Olympics including a semi-final.

An upper division clerk with the Kerala Agriculture department, the soft spoken Benty has all the simplicity of Mulavukad, an island village near Kochi where she lives with her father.  The FIFA referee who has been recently elevated as International Instructor talked exclusively to her college mate Nanditha Subhadra, Executive Editor APN News, on her views of the current status of the game. Excerpts:

 

Kerala is known for its passion for football.  But women’s football is seldom promoted in the state.

Male chauvinism hampers the upward growth of women’s football.  In fact this (male chauvinism) has been responsible for the stunted growth of all forms of women’s games including cricket.  Even the media attention is much biased towards male teams. For example, compare the kind of coverage media gives for male football team and a female football team. Women are ignored. This is also true in the case of cricket While the media is competing to male players extensively, leading female players struggle to get even a mention in the news stories.

 

There is a feeling that over popularity of cricket has affected the growth of other traditional games including football.

 

Yes. Cricket has hampered the growth of our traditional games including football to a larger extent. Though I have played cricket in my early days, I strongly believe that  cricket is a game of gambling. Observe it objectively, you will feel the  scent of real gambling within that game (cricket). The sort of gambling happening in cricket is never possible in football. For, it is not an individual centric sport.  In fact, the fame and name that cricket enjoys now is the gift of the media. Let me tell you my experience. When I was selected as FIFA referee none of the news papers, even in my home state, printed a single line on the rare achievement. Interestingly, multicolumn stories appeared in print when  Dhoni (M S Dhoni) cropped his long hairs. This shows the attitude of the media. My request to the journalists is give a fair deal to all forms of games and sports. I strongly believe, today’s cricket is  gambling and we all need to realize this fact.

 

Are you critical of the media and cricket just because you did not get the deserved media attention, even though you won laurels to the nation both as a player and FIFA referee?

It is a fact that international women footballers like me from our country are little known (to others), thanks to the poor (media) attention we get. But that is not the case of the cricketers in India. They have media managers and they can afford to spend millions for publicity. We all know well, with just one international appearance a cricketer becomes millionaire. He becomes a celebrity. What about players like us? You may be surprised; many would not have heard about me even though I wore the Indian jersey for over six years and became the first woman referee from the country to find place in the FIFA panel. I have officiated numerous international football matches and the most prestigious one was a semifinal match in Athens Olympics where I was officiating field referee.

How did you feel when you were asked be the officiating referee in Athens Olympics?

I was so elated. It was a rare gift from the Heaven, not just for me alone, but for the nation as a whole.  It was much beyond a dream for me. You just imagine, it was a rare chance to become part of the Olympics, as a referee.  That too at Athens, the birth place of the games. It was extremely special for me.

But the some incidents during my return trip to India from Athens dampened my delight. I was booked in first class in an Air India flight from Dubai. Sorry to say, I was deliberately irritated by the crew. They did not initially allow me to carry on board the mementos and the most precious olive leaf crown I was gifted by the organizers of Olympics. After much persuasion they permitted me. It is ridiculous; we are still to learn to acknowledge the achievers.

What impelled you to give up the jersey and opt for the black uniform?

It was all accidental. The biased ruling from some referees during a few matches I played prompted me to learn the rules of the game. Some referees, I found, were partial in their decisions making. Fortunately I got a chance to attend a preliminary coaching camp for referees in Kochi, thanks to Mr. Michael Andrews of Asian Football Confederation (Malaysia). He helped me to get selected to the camp.  After the camp I decided to go to the next levels and finally in 2001 I found a place in the FIFA panel. During my career I officiated as referee in under17 and under20 world cups. My greatest achievement, as I mentioned, was to be a referee in Athens Olympics.  In 2010 I was selected as instructor and now my responsibility is to select, train and evaluate referees.

 

How do you feel as a referee?

It’s a thankless job. Even if your decisions are more than perfect you will have to face flak. I can  remember just one game I officiated that gave me absolute satisfaction. It was a qualifying match between Japan and North Korea played at Hiroshima. There, I felt all my decisions were absolute and I was fully contented. However I am happy to note, the players in the dressing room express their happiness when they see my name in the list as referee, for they expect me to be impartial and unbiased.

In my entire career I opted to show red card only once. I prefer not to show any card unless the error is serious and deliberate. There is a feeling that the referees cannot be questioned. I don’t subscribe to that. But there should not be any protest or revolt of any kind against the any decision from the referee. The decision from the referee should be treated as final and that is the norm. This does not mean that the ruling from a referee is always error free.  There are possibilities of human errors happening. But it should not be deliberate or partial.