NEW DELHI: The SAFF Women’s Championship semifinal between India and Nepal, held in Kathmandu, took a controversial turn with refereeing decisions sparking crowd unrest and disrupting the game.
Following the chaotic semi-final on Sunday, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) issued a statement recognizing the professionalism shown by the Indian team and staff under difficult circumstances. The federation stressed the importance of ensuring the safety of players and staff and announced plans to formally address the incident with SAFF to prevent similar occurrences in the future. Noting a similar incident in an U19 women’s game, the AIFF also called for improved crowd control and officiating standards in high-stakes matches.
The statement read, “The All India Football Federation has taken note of the incidents that happened during the SAFF Women’s Championship 2024 semi-final in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Sunday, October 27, 2024. The AIFF will write to SAFF regarding the incidents and will take it up at the appropriate platform. The India U19 women’s team faced an almost similar situation in a SAFF tournament in the recent past, and the AIFF feels such things are not good for the development of football in the region”.
“For the All India Football Federation, the safety of the women players and staff is always of utmost importance. It is proud of the way the Senior Women’s National Team players, support staff, and officials displayed remarkable restraint and conducted themselves on the pitch under tiring circumstances in Kathmandu. The team came out with their heads high”.
Tensions started building early in the match during the first half when a potential penalty for handball against an Indian player went uncalled by the referee. The decision angered Nepalese fans, raising the temperature inside the packed stadium and setting the stage for what would become a chaotic evening.
In the second half, the intensity escalated in the second half when Nepal’s Rekha Poudel was shown a second yellow card and subsequently sent off. Video replays suggested that Poudel had made a clean tackle, yet she was penalized for a high-footed challenge. This decision enraged the home crowd, who began throwing bottles and other objects onto the field, leading to an 11-minute delay. Nepal’s players stepped in to urge the crowd to calm down, while they played the rest of the match one player short.
India’s Sangita Basfore scored in the 70th minute, igniting celebrations among Indian players and fans. But confusion quickly followed when the referee allowed Nepal to restart the play while several Indian players were still out of position. Nepal scored from this opportunity, but their goal was disallowed after the officials ruled that the game had not yet officially resumed. This triggered fierce protests from both teams and further angered the crowd, causing another delay that stretched the match by nearly 70 minutes.
India crashed out of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women’s Championship 2024 as they went down to Nepal 2-4 in penalty shoot-outs in the semi-finals played at the Dasharath Stadium on Sunday. Played in front of a packed house, the shoot-out was applied after the full-time ended in a 1-1 draw in a match that witnessed more drama off the pitch than inside.
Nepal will play Bangladesh in the final. In the first semi-final, Bangladesh defeated Bhutan 7-1. (ANI)