Coin-toss chaos
The final of the SAFF Under-19 Women's Championship Coin-toss chaos ended in a chaotic manner owing to a controversial decision by Sri Lankan match commissioner Silva Jayasooriya Dilan, which culminated in Bangladesh and India sharing the glory.
The Sri Lankan ordered a coin-toss to decide the winner between Bangladesh and India after a marathon penalty shootout, where both teams took and converted 11 penalties following a 1-1 draw in the stipulated time at the Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium.
After the penalties, Nepalese referee Rai Anjana, as per the recommendation of the match commissioner, called in both captains for a coin-toss, which fell in India's favour.
As the Indian team erupted in celebrations, the Bangladesh officials immediately furiously protested the coin-toss, as the tournament bylaws clearly states that in knockout fixtures, if the teams are all squared up after regular time, the fate of the game will be decided through penalties.
The match commissioner later realised his mistakes and approached the jubilant Indian team to resume the penalty shootout. But India refused the offer and left the ground while the Bangladesh players remained on the field.
After waiting well over the stipulated 30 minutes for the Indian team to return to the ground, the tournament organisers named Bangladesh and India as joint champions.
General Secretary of SAFF, Anwarul Haque Helal revealed that he had to talk to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and then reach out to All India Football Federation (AIFF) for a resolution of the situation.
"It was a very unfortunate incident which never happened in the history of SAFF Championship before. It was a mistake by the match commissioner, who gave the decision without seeing the regulations. As far as I know, the referee urged to continue the penalty shootout but the match commissioner said that the regulations mandated the use of a coin toss. His mistake caused this today," Helal said.
"We gave India a few proposals like abandoning the match and holding a rematch, continuing the penalty shootout, or declaring both finalists as joint champions but they did not accept either of those. Later, we involved All Indian Football Federation's general secretary and president to solve the issue after which both the teams agreed to be joint champions. It was done in the greater interest of the game. We will now deliver the trophy to India and we will give another trophy to Bangladesh later," he added.
Earlier, forward Mst Sagorika, Bangladesh's breakout star in the tournament, once again stole the spotlight with a stoppage time goal in the second half to level the scores and take the match into penalties.
Bangladesh, who had defeated Indian 1-0 in the group-stage, had started poorly in the match and conceded the lead in just the eighth minute.
India captain Nitu Linda's long ball found winger Sibani Devi Mongmeikapam, who made no mistake in driving the ball past onrushing Bangladesh goalkeeper Swapna Rani Mandal.
Bangladesh midfielder Sapna Rani tried her luck from a distance in the 35th and 36th minute unsuccessfully and after resumption, Ruma Akter narrowly missed the target in the 47th minute from a distance while Sapna Rani rattled the crossbar from a corner kick in the 87th minute. But six minutes later, Sagorika struck her fourth goal in the tournament with just one minute left in the clock, making way for the penalties and the chaos that followed it.