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2020-12-05T16:12:54Z

Reverted edits by 2402:3A80:1F65:A1CE:9080:22F1:7A89:D749 (talk) (HG) (3.4.10)

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{{short description|Indian football referee}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2018}}
{{Infobox football official
| name = Santosh Kumar
| image =
| caption =
| fullname = Muringothumalil Santosh Kumar
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1975|5|12|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Kottayam]], [[Kerala]], India
| death_date =
| death_place =
| otheroccupation = [[Auto rickshaw]] driver
| years1 =
| league1 = [[I-League]]
| role1 = [[Referee (association football)|Referee]]
| years2 = 2014–
| league2 = [[Indian Super League]]
| role2 = [[Referee (association football)|Referee]]
| internationalyears1 =
| confederation1 = [[FIFA International Referees List|FIFA listed]]
| internationalrole1 = Referee
}}
'''Muringothumalil Santosh Kumar''' (born 12 May 1975) is an Indian professional [[Association football|football]] [[Referee (association football)|referee]] who officiates primarily in the [[I-League]] and [[Indian Super League]].

In 2012 it was announced that Kumar would be one of three referees in India to be made professional by the [[All India Football Federation]].<ref name=IndianExpress>{{cite news|last1=Koshie|first1=Nihal|title=Kerala auto driver is now AIFF referee|url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/kerala-auto-driver-is-now-aiff-referee/1012139/|accessdate=13 February 2015|work=Indian Express|date=5 October 2012}}</ref>

==Personal life and career==
Born in [[Kerala]], Kumar grew up in a village that was very passionate about football.<ref name="Reddif 2">{{cite web|title=Football kept him going despite the tough times|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-extraordinary-indian-this-fifa-referee-drives-an-autorickshaw/20130115.htm#2|website=Rediff|accessdate=13 February 2015}}</ref> He played for small local clubs, earning Rs. 200 per match.<ref name="Reddif 2"/> Eventually though, due to injury and financial problems, Kumar had to give up playing football, instead, focusing on refereeing the game.<ref name="Reddif 3">{{cite web|title=From the paddy field to I-league matches|url=http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-extraordinary-indian-this-fifa-referee-drives-an-autorickshaw/20130115.htm#3|website=Rediff|accessdate=13 February 2015}}</ref> He started out as a referee in the 1990s for local village games. He passed his written and physical exam for refereeing in 1996.<ref name="Reddif 3"/> Kumar started to referee matches at the local and regional levels but also took up other jobs in order to pay his bills after passing his exam.<ref name="Reddif 3"/>

In 2004 Kumar became a national level referee, however, due to work commitments, could never officiate in all the matches to which he was assigned due to work commitments.<ref name="Reddif 3"/> However, in 2012, it was announced Kumar, along with [[C.R. Srikrishna]] and [[Pratap Singh (referee)|Pratap Singh]], would become professional referees with the [[All India Football Federation]] and thus would earn more money than before.<ref name="Reddif 3"/>

Kumar refereed his first match as a professional on 7 October 2012 in a match between [[Sporting Clube de Goa|Sporting Goa]] and [[East Bengal F.C.|East Bengal]]. He drew two yellow cards - one for each side - as the match ended 0–0.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sporting Goa 0-0 East Bengal|url=https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2012/10/07/india/i-league/sporting-club-de-goa/east-bengal-club-fc/1394148/?ICID=PL_MS_06|website=Soccerway|accessdate=13 February 2015}}</ref>

Kumar also refereed the match between [[FC Bayern Munich|Bayern Munich]] and [[India national football team|India]] in which Bayern Munich won 4–0.<ref name="Reddif 3"/>

On 13 February 2015, it was announced that Kumar had won the award for the AIFF Best Referee of the Year for 2014. In response, Kumar said "We have tried to perform well on the field. I enjoy Referring. I would like to thank AIFF and the Kerala Football Association for all their support. I would also like to thank all my colleagues".<ref>{{cite web|title=India football awards presented|url=http://www.newkerala.com/news/2015/fullnews-18991.html|website=New Kerala|accessdate=13 February 2015}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
6.https://int.soccerway.com/referees/mb-santosh-kumar/271564/

==External links==
* [http://www.footballdatabase.eu/football.arbitres.muringothumalil.santosh-kumar.7525.en.html Football Database profile]

{{AIFF referees}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Santosh}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1975 births]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Kottayam]]
[[Category:Indian football referees]]
[[Category:Footballers from Kerala]]
[[Category:Association footballers not categorized by position]]

Santosh Kumar (referee) - Revision history

imported>Materialscientist: Reverted edits by 2402:3A80:1F65:A1CE:9080:22F1:7A89:D749 (talk) (HG) (3.4.10)