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IND vs Qatar: AIFF to lodge complaint with FIFA
A bizarre moment of refereeing indecision dented India's fortunes in a must-win game.
With Chhangte's goal, India was on course for an upset victory over Qatar (Photo credit: FANCODE)
After India suffered a 1-2 loss to Qatar that resulted in their elimination from the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers, reports are now emerging that the All India Football Federation (AIFF) will be filing a formal complaint with FIFA.
We are now learning that in keeping with the bizarre nature of events that unfolded at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha and owing to the widespread outrage amongst Indian fans, AIFF has contacted FIFA's chief refereeing officer Trevor Kettle with an intent of lodging a complaint.
A bizarre goal
In what was a must-win match for the ‘Blue Tigers', Lallianzuala Chhangte put India ahead in the 36th minute.
India held on to the lead until the 73rd minute when a rather bizarre moment titled the fortunes of the game in favour of the hosts.
A Qatari free-kick was fumbled by goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh, with the ball trickling past him and beyond the goal-line for what would have been a corner.
Moments later, however, Alhashmi Mohialdin pulled the ball back in and Ayman Farahat promptly scored from a simple tap-in.
To everyone’s astonishment, South Korean referee Kim Woo-sugn consulted with his colleague and duly awarded the goal to Qatar.
We’ll leave it here!#INDQAT #IndianFootball pic.twitter.com/5KhtyOfrvS
— FanCode (@FanCode) June 11, 2024
No VAR
What made the matter worse for India was the absence of the Video Assisted Referee (VAR), now a common feature in internal football and top-tier European leagues.
It must be noted though that the second round of FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers don’t have the VAR place.
