There were near-unprecedented scenes at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu, as the SAFF Women's Championship 2024 semi-final between India and Nepal on Sunday (October 27) stood halted for 40 minutes and counting. India were leading 1-0 when the controversy broke out. (Match Blog | More Football News)
What Happened?
A superb long-range strike by Sangita Basfore gave India the lead in the second half. Even as the Indian players were celebrating, Nepal resumed play with their star forward Sabitra Bhandari kicking the ball towards Preeti Rai, who sent the ball into the empty net. The Indians were near the touchline, and goalkeeper Panthoi Chanu was not even inside the D when this happened.
Why Was Play Halted?
Referee Om Choki disallowed the goal, and Nepal immediately erupted in protest, claiming that Choki blew the whistle for play to resume before the hosts went ahead. Play came to an abrupt halt as the Nepal players rose in protest, refusing to accept the decision of a disallowed goal. Something similar had once happened in a Santosh Trophy game between Manipur and Kerala, and despite the early resumption of play, the goal had stood.
Meanwhile, the match officials stepped on the pitch, trying find a compromise between the two camps. The referees then conferred, while the Nepal camp was animatedly making its stance clear, and the Indian team stood in the middle of the pitch, waiting for play to resume.
The Nepal players were adamant that they wanted a decision in their favour. Their skipper and goalie Anjila Subba seemingly refused to accept the verdict of a disallowed Nepal goal, and the impasse continued even as the clock ticked past the 126-minute mark.
Last year, the India and Nepal men's teams were involved in a fight during the SAFF Championship following an aerial tussle between Rahul Bheke and Bimal Gharti Magar in the second half.
As for the semi-final in contention, this was the second time Choki was in the eye of the storm. She had earlier copped fire from the home side after she sent off forward Rekha Poudel with a second yellow.
Rekha was absolutely furious, in disbelief at the decision. She vehemently claimed that she got the ball in a challenge on Ranjana Chanu Sorokhaibam. She even pushed the referee back in anger, but the latter stood her ground and asked Rekha to leave. The Nepal forward remonstrated for a long time before trudging off and the crowd began misbehaving.
It was after a lot of pleading from the Nepal players for the fans to calm down, that play eventually resumed after a 12-minute hold-up. However, we were to witness a bigger, more farcical delay minutes later.
