Football
AIFF to take up crowd violence in India women's game against Nepal with SAFF
Crowd violence stopped India's SAFF Women's C'ship semifinal clash against Nepal for more than an hour, raising safety concerns of players and support staff.
Indian women’s football team (Photo credit: AIFF)
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has decided to write to the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF), taking note of the crowd violence during Sunday's semifinal between India and Nepal in the SAFF Women's Championship at the Dasharath Stadium, Kathmandu.
India lost the match in the tie-breaker after the match was paused for over 70 minutes.
“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 AIFF said in a statement on Monday.
The Indian federation also referred to a 'similar situation' in a SAFF tournament that happened in Dhaka, Bangladesh on February 24. After India were declared winner in the the under-19 final following a coin toss, the crowd got rowdy. Three hours later, India and Bangladesh were declared joint winners.
"The India U19 women’s team faced an almost similar situation in a SAFF tournament in the recent past (in Bangladesh last February), and the AIFF feels such things are not good for the development of football in the region,” the AIFF added.
'Safety of women players and staff is of utmost importance'
“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,” the statement read further.
The match between the visiting Indian women's team and hosts Nepal was interrupted twice, the first of which came when Nepal’s Rekha Poudel was sent off following a second booking. As Nepal protested Bhutanese referee Om Choki’s decision, the fans turned violent. They threw bottles and stones, forcing an assistant referee to leave her line.
India took the lead in the 62nd minute when Sangita Basfore scored after the match resumed following a 12-minute pause.
As Indian players were busy celebrating the goal, the referee blew the whistle to restart, and Nepal hit the back of the net.
As Choki cancelled the goal a mayhem broke out. Fans threw flew into the ground. With the referee urging players to leave the pitch for safety, the match stopped for several minutes. The play resumed almost an hour later.
Sabitra Bhandari equalised for Nepal shortly after the restart. In the tie-breaker, Nepal did not waste a single chance and beat India's substitute goalkeeper, the debutant Payal Basude who replaced Panthoi Chanu in 90+3 minutes. Manisha and Karishma Shorvoikar scored for India, but skipper Ashalata Devi and Ranjana Chanu missed, resulting in India's defeat.
