Stimac to be back for Kuwait game: SAFF secy

There will be no punishment for India head coach Igor Stimac beyond the automatic one-match ban for being shown the red card, Anwarul Haq, general secretary of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF), told HT on Thursday.

Stimac’s red card in India’s tournament opener against Pakistan on Wednesday means he will not be on the bench in the next game, against Nepal on Saturday. He will return against Kuwait on June 27, said the official from Bangladesh.

Referee Chetri Prajwol and match commissioner Dorji Mindu’s report was not sent to the SAFF Disciplinary and Ethics Committee as they did not contain anything that necessitated further action, said Haq.

Earlier on Wednesday, a match official at the SAFF Championship had told HT that since there was “physical confrontation” and that Stimac had “snatched” the ball, there could be additional sanctions. Not part of the team that officiated the India-Pakistan game, the match official had said that along with Mindu’s report, a video clip of the incident had been attached. The match official requested anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.

Late in the first half with his team leading 2-0, Stimac, protesting that India should have been awarded a foul on Pritam Kotal, flicked the ball off a Pakistan player, held it before letting it drop as match officials and other Pakistan players ran towards him. It led to jostling near India’s technical area and after sanity was restored, Prajwol send Stimac off.

“Yeah, it was an offence that if you go by the book often attracts a red card,” said India assistant-coach Mahesh Gawli at the post-match press conference in Bengaluru. “But yeah, but then we feel that it might have been a bit harsh on the coach.”

“He (Stimac) didn’t need to do it, did he,” said an India team official over the phone. “It wasn’t as if we were losing,” the official said. The team official wanted to stay anonymous to protect relationships within the squad.

By not letting Pakistan take the throw-in quickly, Stimac may have prevented a counter-attack but with fiercely partisan crowd of 22,860 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium and more than one pitch intruder breaking through, his action could have led to a challenging situation for the security forces. Especially, if the jostling had turned into a brawl between the teams.

“Football is all about passion, especially when you defend the colours of your country,” Stimac tweeted on Thursday. “You can hate or love me for my actions yesterday, but I am a warrior and I will do it again when needed to protect our boys on the pitch against unjustified decisions.” Included in the tweet was a video clip of the incident.

Ref John back

It was in Bengaluru on March 3 when his decision to let Bengaluru FC take a quick free-kick had led to a walkout by Kerala Blasters in the 2022-23 Indian Super League (ISL). That was referee Crystal John’s last game of the ISL season. John was the fourth official in the SAFF Championship opener between Kuwait and Nepal on Wednesday. He had the whistle in Thursday’s first match where Lebanon beat Bangladesh 2-0. In the later game, Maldives beat Bhutan 2-0.