An appointment for pest control

The appointment of Javier Castrilli as referee commissioner seems to have banged the table at the ANFP refereeing officiating department.

Since his arrival from across the Andes, two senior match officials have resigned in Eduardo Gamboa and César Deischler,

Many across football circles suspect the two preferred to quit before being given the axe. The former FIFA World Cup referee lives with a hard-line notorious image across the South American continent with his approach to match decision laying down the law and his impartiality. It is little wonder of the two resignations after only two weeks of Castrilli's appointment.

Critical of VAR technology, Castrilli has outlined medium to long-term plans for all ANFP championships for a thorough revision of guideline protocols, match performances as well as ongoing professional on-the-job training.

Castrilli, nicknamed the "Sheriff" also spoke that the football media, club board directors and fans are key to open criticism to voice their opinion and say, as they play a key role in keeping up with demand and expectations in the performance of match refereeing.

Formerly at the Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Argentine government in charge of public events, namely football, Castrilli prior to his appointment to the ANFP, the Chilean governing body was also vocal on Twitter venting his opinions with objectivity especially with the absurd hosting of the 2021 Copa América held in Brazil and the abhorrent biased refereeing.

Standards in Chilean football have dropped and in particular with criticism from former players and fans alike that the league setup and clubs cannot keep up with continental competitions in the Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana against Brazilian and Argentinian opposition in particular.

Refereeing standards are deemed poor, with decisions inconsistent and VAR technology used alongside controversial, impartial decision making at the VAR referee room that has left players and coaching staff fuming. The ever-present bias towards the "big three" of Universidad de Chile, Colo-Colo and Universidad Católica remains evident with teams based outside of Santiago, in the regions jeopardised.

He said in a much publicised press conference, "It would be enormously irresponsible for me to judge the standards of Chilean football refereeing. If I can say that referee Roberto Tobar is not only the best referee in South America but of the whole Americas continent, by far, I would further add he is amongst the top three or four referees in the world. My views are based on his innate qualities in leadership and character."

Refereeing he says, is based on "morals, ethics that help serve us as good people to society. We need to build this type of referee for the future and build a male and female football referee that can handle and mediate problems and errors and be capable of continuing tasks when mistakes also occur."

"The idea is the support Chilean football taking measures that are necessary so to hand back the game to its fans. It has lost a degree of credibility so we need to feel safe and secure, confident that sooner rather than later the game can remain in power of its fans and its folklore. The future of this sporting activity before VAR technology and now with its implementation remains on par with cultural, political and economic contexts."

His definition means that football is living through a before and after effect with the introduction of VAR technology and refereeing goes hand-in-hand, questioning the integrity in the officiating of the game in the continent.

Chile is according to Castrilli, "one of the few countries already utilising VAR technology where others are not" - not mentioning that the Chilean second tier has not implemented it.

VAR technology is not the be-all, end-all. He stressed the importance of professional training and education which is the only road to continuous learning in order to be better prepared for the challenges and changes that football brings.