KOLKATA: What transpired in Dhaka on Thursday was nothing short of bizarre as India and Bangladesh ended up as joint winners of the
SAFF U-19 Women’s Championship
after the final which ended one-all during playing time, led to a shootout where 11 penalties each were scored by both sides, then a coin toss to decide the winner.
It led to onfield protests, a walkout and a lot of drama.
In the end, reason prevailed and both teams were declared joint winners. Eleven kicks from each team went unsaved in the penalty shootout after hosts Bangladesh earned a 93rd-minute equaliser to end regulation time on equal terms — Sagorika for the hosts cancelling Sibani Devi’s eighth-minute opener.
Then, the referee
Anjana Rai
of Nepal called skippers Nitu Linda( India) and
Afeida Khandakar
(Bangladesh) to the middle of the pitch for a coin toss and declared the visitors champions based on Linda’s right call.
While the capacity crowd at the stadium were left in dis- belief, the victorious Indians celebrated a crucial victory af- ter ending up on the losing side in the 2019 summit clash against the same opponents and would have had scripted a comeback from their loss against Bangladesh in the round-robin fixture by virtue of another injury-time winner from the hosts.
However, the Bangladesh contingent pro- tested the manner of decision and complained to the match commissioner even as AIFF posted “WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS” on its ‘X’ handle.
As there is no rule for a coin toss as decider in SAFF tournament, or in the
International Association Football Board
rulebook, the commissioner agreed that the penalty should have been continued and decided to crown both teams champions of the 2024 edition.
English (US) ·