SAFF Women’s U-19 C’ships: The Indian women's U19 football team was declared joint winner along with Bangladesh in an ill-tempered final of the SAFF Women’s U-19 Championship at Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Sipahi Mohammad Mostafa Kamal (BSSSMK) Stadium, Dhaka. Despite winning the match via toss, the Indian team shared the trophy with their opponents following an unprecedented change of decision the match officials made.
The match went into the penalties following a 1-1 draw in the normal time. India scored their first goal in regulation time with a strike in the 8th minute. Bangladesh levelled back in the stoppage time and the match was forced into penalties straight away.
The drama unfolded after India won by a coin toss
Both sides kept on scoring and all the 11 players (including goalkeepers) found the back of the nets as the scoreline reached 11-11. The referee was told to not continue with the penalties and she suddenly called for a toss. India got lucky as the coin fell in their favour and they won the match. The drama unfolded in a big way after this.
India started to celebrate after the coin toss, while the Bangladesh players began protesting. The crowd also began to throw a few bottles onto the field and also shouted slogans.
Things were not clear even after an hour passed. Then the match commissioner, who took the coin toss decision earlier, changed his verdict and declared India and Bangladesh the joint winners.
"It was a good gesture from the All India Football Federation. We accepted the decision to declare both sides as joint winners," an AIFF source told PTI.
This was the fifth edition of the women's tournament. The SAFF U19 Women's Championship began in 2018. This was the third time that they faced each other in the final of the tournament. Bangladesh. The Bangla side has won the tournament four times including the sharing of the honours this time. India are the only other team to win it - a feat they achieved in 2022 and this time alongside Bangladesh in 2024.
