All India Football Federation (AIFF) President Kalyan Chaubey has confirmed that the body has lodged an official complaint to FIFA and AFC Heads regarding the massive refereeing error in India's FIFA World Cup Qualifier against Qatar on June 1 in Doha. Kalyan Chaubey in an official statement confirmed that AIFF has written to FIFA head of Qualifiers, AFC head of referees and AFC head of competition regarding Qatar's controversial equaliser against India, which ultimately led to a defeat for the Blue Tigers by 2-1. With Kuwait defeating Afghanistan 1-0 in the other match of India's Group A, the defeat meant the end of India's chances of going through to Round 3.
After Lallianzuala Chhangte gave India a celebratory lead in the 37th minute of the game, Qatar, the Asian Champions, walked into the tunnel trailing for the first time in this competition. However, the second half brought a cruel turn of fate for the Blue Tigers after Qatar's Yousef Aymen equalised for his side in the 73rd minute in the most unruly fashion. Leading up to Aymen's equaliser, the ball had initially ricocheted off India goalkeeper and skipper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and clearly travelled outside the line for a corner. However, Al-Hashmi rolled the ball back from outside the line for Aymen to kick it into the India net.
Quite surprisingly and much to the utter frustration of the India players, on-field referee Kim Woo-Sung, after consultation with linesmen Kang Dong Ho deemed the goal legal and eventually hamper the tempo of the well-performing Indian defence.
In his statement, Chaubey assured Indian football fans that the AIFF are doing all under their capabilities to get the concerned officials to carry out a detailed investigation.
"Victory and defeat are a part and parcel of the game, we have learnt to accept it gracefully, although one of the two goals scored against India yesterday night left a few questions unanswered. We have written to FIFA head of qualifiers, AFC head of referees, AFC head of competitions, and the match commissioner, regarding a grave supervision error that practically costed us a place in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers round 3," Kalyan Chaubey said in his statement.
"We call upon the concerned officials for a thorough investigation. We have urged them to explore the possibilities of sporting compensation to address the injustice, and we trust that FIFA and the AFC will take necessary steps in this regard." Chaubey added.
Despite India's defence being on top form throughout the first half, the utterly disappointing nature of the equaliser saw the entire structure break down. This ultimately led to another 85th minute goal by Qatar's Ahmed Ali-Rawi, which sealed the win for the home side.
