East Bengal officials Debabrata Sarkar and Saikat Ganguly called on Mansukh Mandaviya, the Union minister for youth affairs and sports, at his New Delhi residence on Sunday.

“We have been robbed by the referees for the last four years. We showed the honourable sports minister clippings from some of the matches. He expressed surprise over some of the decisions against East Bengal,” a senior official said on Sunday afternoon.

“Mandaviya promised to look into the matter. And if need be, he would appoint an observer from his ministry to have a detailed look at the standard of refereeing,” the official added.

The meeting, according to the official, lasted more than 30 minutes. “We are thankful that the sports minister took time from his busy schedule to hear our case.”

East Bengal have also invited Mandaviya as the chief guest for the August 1 Foundation Day function. “He has accepted our invitation,” according to the club statement.

East Bengal have consistently complained about the standard of refereeing in the ISL over the past few years.

East Bengal complained that a legitimate penalty was not awarded to them by referee Ramachandran Venkatesh during the ISL-XI derby against Mohun Bagan Super Giant in Guwahati on January 11.

Trevor Kettle, the chief refereeing officer of the All India Football Federation, later backed Venkatesh’s decision.