Two pairs of boys from Dominic Savio (Andheri) yesterday sported jerseys with similar numbers during their Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA)-organised U-16 Div I football match against St Francis D'Assisi 'A' (Borivli)
Two Dominic Savio players wear No. 8 jerseys during their under-16 Div-I match against St Francis D'Assisi yesterday. Pics/Suresh Karkera
Duplicate jersey numbers is a strict no-no in football as this could lead to incorrect information in terms of goals scored, fouls committed etc. Two pairs of boys from Dominic Savio (Andheri) yesterday sported jerseys with similar numbers during their Mumbai Schools Sports Association (MSSA)-organised U-16 Div I football match against St Francis D'Assisi 'A' (Borivli) at Azad Maidan which ended in a goalless draw.
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Qwain D'Souza and Chris Braganza had No. 8 on the back of their jerseys, while Duane D'Souza and Jayden Coutinho had No. 9 on their backs. However, the line-up mentioned Chris and Jayden's numbers as 28 and 19 respectively.
When mid-day brought this to the notice of Dominic Savio coach Sachin Kedekar, he was initially reluctant but later admitted to the error. "We received our jerseys only today and noticed the duplicity in numbers just before the match. It's completely our fault and we will rectify this before our next match [on Friday]," Kedekar told mid-day.
Referee Irfan Shaikh tried to brush aside the problem. "I noticed two players having jersey No. 9, so, I wrote the number one before nine with chalk on one of the boy's jersey to make it 19 but that [number one] may have got washed away due to rain," he said.
When told about jersey No. 8 being repeated too, he argued saying it wasn't true. Later, however, he too admitted that he had erred. "I didn't notice that [jerseys with No. 8]," said Shaikh.
MSSA football secretary Sebastian Fernandes handed coach Kedekar a stern warning. "This is a serious issue and I have warned the coach that a repeat of this could result in a ban. The referee is equally responsible because we have bibs with numbers to be used in such situations," he said.
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