Monday, June 22, 2015
An Indonesian Ref
If you are going to name a lad to become a referee in Indonesia you can't go far wrong with Hardjowasito. In the Indonesian language a referee is known as a wasit!
People tend not to remember the names of match officials, only if they were truly awful. And that is how it should be with the old dictum if you didn't notice the ref he had a good game. Unfortunately Hardjowasito is remembered even 33 years after rising to prominence during a World Cup Qualifier played in New Zealand.
Today the idea of an Indonesian ref officiating at any game outside its shores is far fetched and we are not even talking about the current FIFA imposed sanction. It has been a long time since any major tournament has felt the need to call up an Indonesian and I am sure there must be a pretty good reason when you consider how political the body can be when it comes to doling out positions.
Back in the 1980s it seems officials were less reticent. The Jakarta born Hardjowasito, who boasts wiki pages in French and Hungarian but not English or Indonesian, was called up for the Asian Cup in 1980 then being hosted by Kuwait, at that time making a splash on the world game for the first time in its history.
The first game Hardjowasito took charge of was between Malaysia and North Korea with the Malaysians equalising in the last minute through Abdul Ali to salvage a point.
He must have impressed because the next time he took his whistle and his pea on to the pitch was for the final when hosts Kuwait defeated South Korea 3-0 when the Koreans were not quite the disciplined outfit they are these days.
Hardjowasito next appears on the international in April 1981 when he is officiating the World Cup Qualifier between North Korea and Thailand played in...Kuwait, a game the Thais lost 5-1. He followed that up with a trip to Fiji where the hosts lost 4-1 against Australia in another World Cup Qualifier.
Then came Auckland in October in 1981. Hardjowasito was given the game between New Zealand and Kuwait who at the time were favourites to win the group and go on to the World Cup itself in Spain the following year.
It was a game to be mored in controversy. In the second half Hardjowasito gave two controversial penalties to Kuwait, the first was saved after the second converted. Before the second a fan invaded the pitch and threw a can at the ref and ran off seemingly at leisure despite the ref giving half hearted chase! Tempers were boiling, at least among the New Zealand players.
The ref walked off the pitch and threatened to call off the tie complaining about the lack of security. New Zealand FA official Charles Dempsey got involved, telling the ref ' If you call this game off, it's the last game you will referee, He looked at my Fifa badge - he had no idea what my position was - and I added: 'I'm warning you. Call this game off and you have had it.
'I had no authority to say that because I was not the match inspector. But I had to bluff it.'
Kuwait went on to score a second and win the tie 2-1 but recriminations lasted long after.
Steve Wooddin had give the home side the lead, a sweetly struck volley from 18 yards out but the fun began in the second half and how.
A headed clearance from inside the New Zealand six yard area bounced off Steve Sumner and Hardjowasito, looking along the line, had no hesitation pointing to the spot. 'It was ball to arm,'' Sumner later said. 'Someone cleared the ball in our box and it hit me on the arm. There was no intent on my part.' Richard Wilson in goal for the home side hadn't read the script, of there was one, and he saved the spot kick, diving to his left and pushing the ball away.
A few minutes later and the ref was at it again, giving a penalty as a defender turned away from a shot. Play was held up for nine minutes as the ref walked off the pitch and threatened to call off the tie complaining about the lack of security.
New Zealand FA official Charles Dempsey got involved, telling the ref ' If you call this game off, it's the last game you will referee, He looked at my Fifa badge - he had no idea what my position was - and I added: 'I'm warning you. Call this game off and you have had it.
'I had no authority to say that because I was not the match inspector. But I had to bluff it.'
When play resumed Kuwait scored, went on to score a second and won the game 2-1.
Assistant coach Kevin Fallon said 'I felt cheated that day, no doubt about it. They were penalties you couldn't get away from...sometimes if I head a ball as hard as I can at you right there, you can't disappear, it's gonna hit you. You didnt play the ball, the ball played you.'
When the ref blew the whistle to mark the end of the game policemen ran on to protect him from irate fans who tried to get at him while a Thai linesman Nobnom Ausukont was cut in the face.
Rumours flew after the game with one suggesting the Kuwaiti team had arrived in New Zealand on their own private jet, par for the course these days, with a briefcase full of money but later left without it. Obviously there is no proof this happened and in those days people were, despite their anger at the refs performance, more likely to believe the ref just had a bad day at the office than believe anything more sinister.
Sumner was one of those who liked to think the best of people. ' Back then we accepted things a little easier than players do now. I remember thinking at the time that this referee was an officious bloke interpreting things a little differently.'
After the game the head of the Kuwait Football Association was likewise sanguine.
As it happened both Kuwait and New Zealand went on to represent Asia and Oceana at the 1982 World Cup but for Hardjowasito things got a bit quieter for a few years.
In 1984 he was dusting off his passport again, this time for Singapore and the Olympic Games Qualifiers where he was reported to have had a good game reffing South Korea v Saudi Arabia.
'I thought Sudarso did not make any major mistake in what maybe considered a difficult match,' said Yap Boon Chuan, coaching committee chairman of the Football Association of Singapore. 'The only error was the controversial penalty awarded to Saudi Arabia in the second half from which the Saudis made no mistake.'
Saudi Arabia won the game 5-4 and finished top of the group; a group which incidentally also featured New Zealand and Kuwait!
Early in the following year he was back in Singapore, this time for more World Cup Qualifiers. He took charge of Singapore v North Korea which ended in a 1-1 draw before running the line at Singapore v Japan a few weeks later, a game the Japanese won 3-1. In April he was in Brunei watching over Hong Kong defeating the hosts 5-1.
And then he pretty much falls off the radar. No doubt he would have been active in Indonesia's domestic leagues but records are few and far between. Instead all we have is the wasit known as Hardjowasito, some controversy and little else.
People tend not to remember the names of match officials, only if they were truly awful. And that is how it should be with the old dictum if you didn't notice the ref he had a good game. Unfortunately Hardjowasito is remembered even 33 years after rising to prominence during a World Cup Qualifier played in New Zealand.
Today the idea of an Indonesian ref officiating at any game outside its shores is far fetched and we are not even talking about the current FIFA imposed sanction. It has been a long time since any major tournament has felt the need to call up an Indonesian and I am sure there must be a pretty good reason when you consider how political the body can be when it comes to doling out positions.
Back in the 1980s it seems officials were less reticent. The Jakarta born Hardjowasito, who boasts wiki pages in French and Hungarian but not English or Indonesian, was called up for the Asian Cup in 1980 then being hosted by Kuwait, at that time making a splash on the world game for the first time in its history.
The first game Hardjowasito took charge of was between Malaysia and North Korea with the Malaysians equalising in the last minute through Abdul Ali to salvage a point.
He must have impressed because the next time he took his whistle and his pea on to the pitch was for the final when hosts Kuwait defeated South Korea 3-0 when the Koreans were not quite the disciplined outfit they are these days.
Hardjowasito next appears on the international in April 1981 when he is officiating the World Cup Qualifier between North Korea and Thailand played in...Kuwait, a game the Thais lost 5-1. He followed that up with a trip to Fiji where the hosts lost 4-1 against Australia in another World Cup Qualifier.
Then came Auckland in October in 1981. Hardjowasito was given the game between New Zealand and Kuwait who at the time were favourites to win the group and go on to the World Cup itself in Spain the following year.
It was a game to be mored in controversy. In the second half Hardjowasito gave two controversial penalties to Kuwait, the first was saved after the second converted. Before the second a fan invaded the pitch and threw a can at the ref and ran off seemingly at leisure despite the ref giving half hearted chase! Tempers were boiling, at least among the New Zealand players.
The ref walked off the pitch and threatened to call off the tie complaining about the lack of security. New Zealand FA official Charles Dempsey got involved, telling the ref ' If you call this game off, it's the last game you will referee, He looked at my Fifa badge - he had no idea what my position was - and I added: 'I'm warning you. Call this game off and you have had it.
'I had no authority to say that because I was not the match inspector. But I had to bluff it.'
Kuwait went on to score a second and win the tie 2-1 but recriminations lasted long after.
Steve Wooddin had give the home side the lead, a sweetly struck volley from 18 yards out but the fun began in the second half and how.
A headed clearance from inside the New Zealand six yard area bounced off Steve Sumner and Hardjowasito, looking along the line, had no hesitation pointing to the spot. 'It was ball to arm,'' Sumner later said. 'Someone cleared the ball in our box and it hit me on the arm. There was no intent on my part.' Richard Wilson in goal for the home side hadn't read the script, of there was one, and he saved the spot kick, diving to his left and pushing the ball away.
A few minutes later and the ref was at it again, giving a penalty as a defender turned away from a shot. Play was held up for nine minutes as the ref walked off the pitch and threatened to call off the tie complaining about the lack of security.
New Zealand FA official Charles Dempsey got involved, telling the ref ' If you call this game off, it's the last game you will referee, He looked at my Fifa badge - he had no idea what my position was - and I added: 'I'm warning you. Call this game off and you have had it.
'I had no authority to say that because I was not the match inspector. But I had to bluff it.'
When play resumed Kuwait scored, went on to score a second and won the game 2-1.
Assistant coach Kevin Fallon said 'I felt cheated that day, no doubt about it. They were penalties you couldn't get away from...sometimes if I head a ball as hard as I can at you right there, you can't disappear, it's gonna hit you. You didnt play the ball, the ball played you.'
When the ref blew the whistle to mark the end of the game policemen ran on to protect him from irate fans who tried to get at him while a Thai linesman Nobnom Ausukont was cut in the face.
Rumours flew after the game with one suggesting the Kuwaiti team had arrived in New Zealand on their own private jet, par for the course these days, with a briefcase full of money but later left without it. Obviously there is no proof this happened and in those days people were, despite their anger at the refs performance, more likely to believe the ref just had a bad day at the office than believe anything more sinister.
Sumner was one of those who liked to think the best of people. ' Back then we accepted things a little easier than players do now. I remember thinking at the time that this referee was an officious bloke interpreting things a little differently.'
After the game the head of the Kuwait Football Association was likewise sanguine.
Sheikh Fahad Al Ahmed Al Jaber Al Sabah, later to earn notoriety for walking on to the pitch during Kuwait's World Cup with France in 1982, said 'everywhere in the world the losing spectators have to find a reason. If we had lost, none of this would have happened.'
As it happened both Kuwait and New Zealand went on to represent Asia and Oceana at the 1982 World Cup but for Hardjowasito things got a bit quieter for a few years.
In 1984 he was dusting off his passport again, this time for Singapore and the Olympic Games Qualifiers where he was reported to have had a good game reffing South Korea v Saudi Arabia.
'I thought Sudarso did not make any major mistake in what maybe considered a difficult match,' said Yap Boon Chuan, coaching committee chairman of the Football Association of Singapore. 'The only error was the controversial penalty awarded to Saudi Arabia in the second half from which the Saudis made no mistake.'
Saudi Arabia won the game 5-4 and finished top of the group; a group which incidentally also featured New Zealand and Kuwait!
Early in the following year he was back in Singapore, this time for more World Cup Qualifiers. He took charge of Singapore v North Korea which ended in a 1-1 draw before running the line at Singapore v Japan a few weeks later, a game the Japanese won 3-1. In April he was in Brunei watching over Hong Kong defeating the hosts 5-1.
And then he pretty much falls off the radar. No doubt he would have been active in Indonesia's domestic leagues but records are few and far between. Instead all we have is the wasit known as Hardjowasito, some controversy and little else.
# posted by Me @ 12:35 PM 
Comments:
<< Home
Another referee (probably a mixed Dutch/Indonesian), C.H. Wensveen refereed in Summer Olympic 1956.
He refereed a match between Australia and India.
Post a Comment
He refereed a match between Australia and India.
<< Home
