Chamchuk Lama: An Untold Story of a Football Referee

Football is one of the most popular games in the world and it’s played in every corner of this globe. Even in India, the beautiful game is making steady progress and the masses are getting attracted to it.

Overs the years besides the players millions of other people have contributed towards football’s development around the world. Their sacrifice is often overlooked but they are always there working for the game. Referees are one, such breed of people who fall into that category. They do one of the most difficult but thankless jobs in football and the work they put in is often overlooked.

In India too barring a few Referees, the plight of most of them is sad, to say the least. They are often criticized and ridiculed for their match supervision, sometimes they even have to face ugly situations like getting severely assaulted. They are also underpaid and the training they undergo is not up to the mark. Very less is done for them but we always expect more from the Referees and other match officials. We are quick to criticize but not very forthcoming when it comes to complimenting them when they do a good job. Thankfully this situation is changing in the last few years but the progress is slow, hope it speeds up and the Referees are given the respect that they deserve.

In the tiny Himalayan State of Sikkim in the ’80s and ’90s being a referee was not that easy as there was no proper system in place, most of them were self-taught with no formal training. Chamchuk Lama was one of them but later on, in his career, this shy boy from Tathangchen in Gangtok went on to become the National referee and also inspired a lot of youngsters and even women to take up this, thankless job.

Chamchuk Lama was born to Late Jangabir Lama and Late Gaki Lachenpa on 10th May 1961, He grew up at Tathanchen, which was a village back then but now a well-developed locality of Gangtok. He is married to Pavitra Lama and has one daughter, Sudeshna Lama who is the first women referee from Sikkim along with another lady Nim Diki Bhutia, later Sudeshna went into teaching and is a Graduate teacher now at a school in South Sikkim. Professionally Chamchuk retired as Deputy Secretary of Housing Board in 2019.

“When I was a little kid (early 70s), I used to go with my father, who was in Sikkim Guard’s Army, to see football matches at Polo Ground (now Paljor Stadium). There was an altercation in one of the matches played between the then Sikkim Guards and 3rd GR (Gorkha Regiment). I can still recollect how the Sikkim Guard’s supporters, entered the field of play. I am not able to remember the reason behind the brawl, but while returning back home, I could hear my father and his colleague abusing the Referee for his decision. Even as a little boy one big subject hit my mind and that was “The Role of Football Referees in the field of play”. Remembered Chamchuk about the first incident in his life which drew his attention towards the referees who often go unnoticed in a match. This was a significant incident that had laid the foundation for Chamchuk’s future career as a Referee. Unknowingly the little boy had introduced himself to the tough job of being a Referee.

During his teenage years, Chamchuk started playing football at the school level and "Himalayan Club of Tathangchen”. That was in the late ’70s before he started Refereeing at village tournaments. He also played side by side but was unable to reach the National Level which was his aim though he was a decent footballer and played in all the 4 districts of Sikkim.

Those days, when Chamchuk was playing, there was no recognized or regular Referee in his locality. A “Dada” type player from each team used to become a Referee voluntarily. Slowly he also started to supervise the matches as Referee and started loving it. “I was first introduced as Referee in Sikkim Football Association by one of the renowned footballers of those days, Late Solomon Lepcha, who had seen my refereeing at the village level and encouraged me to go further. I was then a very quiet, shy, and self-conscious Youngman and lacked any type of real confidence.” Chamchuk shared getting a bit emotional.

He continued, that was in the year 1988-89. Now he has spent almost 32 years as a Referee and is still continuing with the Referees program. “Today, I am the exact opposite of what I was when I had started in the late 80s. And I owe this all to football refereeing and the Sikkim Football Association. Before that, I used to see Sir James Karthak, Agya Rinchen Bhutia, and some other (I forgot some names) doing matches.” Added Chamchuk. In the present times, he is the Referee's Accessor with the All India Football Federation which is a prestigious post.

He elaborated further "When I joined as the State level football Referee, there was already some known Referees like Agya Gaden Lepcha, Karma Wongyal Bhutia, Bikash Pradhan, Govind Chettri , and few others. They were all self-trained as in those days there were no Referees training or classes. And I also joined according to the situation. Later on, few ex-National football players like Dougyal (Edwin) Lepcha, Udai Rai, Sagar Pradhan, Navin Lama, K.D. Lepcha, Dewang Subba, Chewang Pintso Thakarpa of Namchi, Mingma Sherpa of Soreng, and so many other local boys joined the Referees Board of Sikkim Football Association."

Those days, to supervise football matches in Sikkim was a very tough job. Of course, we make mistakes. everyone does, whether it is the referees, players, or coaches. The big difference is that when you are a football referee everyone is judging you. “I don’t remember a single day when the Referees have been appreciated for their supervision of the match. Every now and then, they were manhandled in the field of play. However, the Referees were treated well when they were off the field.” Said Chamchuk about those challenging days of refereeing in Gangtok when fights used to very common especially amongst the school teams.

When arch school rivals Tashi Namgyal Senior Secondary School and Tashi Namgyal Academy played. The Referees had to be ready to run and escape from the field of play after every match, sometime during the match too. The trend was that, by any chance, if a goal was scored against TNSSS, the students used to enter the ground and start protesting for no reason. Chamchuk said he still dreams about those days sometimes and hears the famous slogan of TNHSS “Jeetiyo Bhanay Thikai Cha, Haryo Bhaney Kachera”.    

Even the club matches especially between Sikkim Police-Boys Club, Zongri-Sikkim Police, Boys Club-Zongri used to be tough for the Referees and match officials, whenever these teams played fights and altercations were a regular feature. Chamchuk remembered that one match “One of my very bad experiences as a Referee which I never want to remember was the Final match of Independence Cup in 2001-02 played between Sikkim Police and UKFC (Kurseong) at TNA Ground. It was going smoothly with UKFC leading till the beginning of the second half when suddenly, the Sikkim Police equalized, A brawl started with a complaint from the technical area of UKFC that their player was fouled by Sikkim Police before the goal was scored. And the officials of the UKFC forced their players to leave the field. Even after the request from the high-level members of the Sikkim Football Association, they did not play rather they left the vicinity raising slogans, breaking the window glasses of school’s classrooms. With no option, the Association declared Sikkim Police as Winner. That was the worst experience of my Refereeing life.” 

That was a bitter the experience he had faced but he is always proud of what he did and achieved over the years “Sometimes I recollect my days as Referee and the amount of work and sacrifices I have made. I can tell anyone with my head held high that I have dedicated my life to one of the most hated and controversial jobs in sports – The REFEREE. “ recalled Chamchuk giving the impression that he doesn’t want to talk too much about the negative aspects of being a Referee.

However, Chamchuk is happy that he did not have a single bad experience in the National Football Tournaments. From East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, Mohammedan Sporting Club to Mumbai, and Goa’s team, he supervised almost all the big teams of Indian Football. His most memorable game as Referee was East Bengal vs Dempo in I-League in the year 2003-04 at Salt Lake Stadium when Bhaichung Bhutia was playing from East Bengal. He admitted he has many good memories but the narration will take too long and will become like a novel.      

The real journey of the Sikkim Football Association’s Referees Board started when, for the first time from the state, five Referees- Gayden Lepcha, Udai Rai, Karma Wongyal Bhutia, Bikash Pradhan, and Chamchuk Lama himself attended the AIFF National Level Referees examination at Chennai in the year 1999, in which only Bikash Pradhan could pass. The very next year, Chamchuk took the exams again in the same category at Jamshedpur and passed it in all verticals (fitness, theory, and practical). Bikash Pradhan is one of the most experienced and renowned Referees of this region and the first National Referee from Sikkim. He and Chamchuk has officiated in many National level tournaments together, But, unfortunately, he could not continue as National Referee further due to his fitness problem.

Chamchuk was passionate enough and has never failed in any fitness test conducted by AIFF and till retirement as Active National Referee in the year 2006, he was in the top physical shape. During his tenure as the National Referee, he has supervised countless prestigious National and International football matches including tournaments like the  Bordoli Trophy, Durand Cup, National Leagues, Hero I-League, Federation Cup, IFA Shield, Santosh Trophy, Governor’s Gold Cup, and so on. Very few Referee from our region has reached such levels and Chamchuk is a perfect role model for all the budding Referees.

Later on, after retirement as Active Referee in 2006, he attended and completed the course of Referees Assessor/Fitness Instructor of All India Football Federation. And till now, he is an active Referees Assessor/Fitness Instructor of AIFF and SFA.  As a Referees Assessor too Chamchuk has reached the top in Indian football and has been assigned many prestigious tournaments like the  Indian Super League, Hero I-Leagues, IFA Shield, Santosh Trophy, etc.

After my retirement as the National Referee and undergoing AIFF Referee Instructor’s Training, his first duty was to produce good Referees for the National level. “My first preference was to encourage the Women Referees from Sikkim since there was not a single Women Referee in the State and not many women were interested to come forward and take the Refereeing as their career in this male-dominated field. It was tough to produce Women Referees those days, however, I started training my daughter Sudeshna and her friend Nima Diki who came forward with enthusiasm to become Women Referees in the year 2011. On the recommendation of the Sikkim Football Association, they were selected by the All India Football Federation to undergo Referees training at Jabalpur. They were the first women to be inducted as Women Referees in Sikkim.” Informed Chamchuk with pride

Later, in the same year, few other women came forward like Phurki Lhamu Bhutia, Reshme Chettri, Presilla Tamang, Sen Hangma Subba, Anita Tamang, Sanjeela Gurung, Tenzing Bhutia, Susmita Rai, and many more. There are a good number of Women Referees in Sikkim now, which is all due to the efforts of Chamchuk Lama and it will be a wonderful tribute to him if his contributions can be recognized even more by the people, football fans, and the Government.

“To be honest, it was really very tough for me those days to safeguard Women Referees during the matches in the Men’s tournaments. I have witnessed so many awkward situations against women Referees in the matches. Seeing all this, I have also spent sleepless nights. They were abused by the players and coaches in almost all the matches,  however, they never gave up on their passion, and today I am proud that they have proved their capability.” Chamchuk remembered those tough days.  

Now in Sikkim, there are two National Women Referees. Phurki Lhamu Bhutia and Reshme Chettri. They are in the limelight since both are doing very well and are supervising matches regularly in the National as well as International level. Miss Presilla Tamang, who has also cleared her National Referee examination, is yet to receive her final confirmation, and one another Referee Miss Sen Hangma Subba is also in a pipeline to become National Referee very soon. Overall, there are good numbers of qualified Women Referees in Sikkim at the moment.  

Chamchuk Lama has proved if you have the passion to do something you don’t need anything more. He can be called the person who has inspired a generation of Youngmen and Women to become Referees where very few people take the plunge. Even today it’s hard to convince someone to officiate as a Referee even at a small village game but this once shy little kid from Tathangchen has gone on to inspire women to do this tough job and show everyone that can do it. Chamchuk Lama deserves much more than what he has got till now.