All India Football Federation (AIFF) has written a letter to FIFA and AFC (Asian Football Confederation), urging for investigation and sporting compensation after India lost out on a place in the third round of World Cup Qualifiers due to a controversial ‘ghost goal’ in the match against Qatar. 

AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey said although the result had been accepted ‘gracefully’, one of the two goals scored against India left a few questions unanswered.

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“After the game against Qatar, in consultation with our Chief Refereeing Officer, [we] decided to write to the FIFA Head of Qualifiers, the AFC Head of Referees, the AFC Head of Competitions, and the Match Commissioner for the game, requesting them to look into the grave supervision error caused during the game that practically cost us a place in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Round 3,” Chaubey stated. 

Given the severity of the issue that may peg back Indian football by a few years, Chaubey urged the concerned officials to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter.

“Furthermore, we have urged them to explore the possibilities of sporting compensation to address the injustice. Ensuring the integrity of the game is paramount, we truly trust that the FIFA and the AFC will take necessary steps in this regard,” he added. 

Dreams shattered for Indian fans

India were on the precipice of advancing to the third round of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers for the first time in their history after leading Qatar 1-0 at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Tuesday (Jun 11). 

The Blue Tigers were in the lead up until the 73rd minute when the controversial incident took place. Yousef Aymen’s header from a free kick was saved by India’s goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu who unfortunately could not cleanly gather the ball as it snuck under his legs and over the byline. 

As the Indian players switched off, Qatar pulled the ball back and slotted it into an unguarded, empty Indian net. While the Indian players appealed, the referee and the linesman refused to overturn their decision, which allowed Qatar to dominate the match and eventually score the winner.  

Apart from a place in the next round, a win would have helped India seal a direct berth in the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. 

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