MARGAO
Sainath Haldankar is the only Assistant Referee from Goa to officiate in the ongoing I-League at Kolkata.
The league has been suspended for a week after a couple of players came in contact with two other players that were infected with Covid-19. Sainath has also officiated games at the prestigious Santosh Trophy.
The other assistant referees in the league include Kuldeep Singh Tariyal (Delhi), Nani Gopal Saha and Sourav Sarkar (Both from IFA), Parmeshwar Gope (Jharhkand), Maria Tony (Karnataka) Sanjay E S (Karnataka), SS Pandya (Orissa), Vijay Shankar R (Pondicherry) Churchill Rana (New- SSCB), Aleem Basha (Tamil Nadu) and Dipesh Sawant (WIFA).
According to Walter Pereira, a former FIFA assistant referee, Sainath is "the best assistant referee from Goa" and is knocking on the doors of the Indian Super League (ISL). Sainath is a standby referee for the ISL.
