Controversial Referee, PSSI Sends Protest to AFC

Erick stated that several controversial referee decisions became the basis for PSSI's protest to AFC. As a federation, according to Erick, PSSI has the authority to deliver an official protest. Moreover, there were several incidents during the match that harmed Indonesia's national team.

"We as a federation will protest regarding the referee's performance. You see all the Indonesian people, social media netizens, everyone is with us. Because they know, this is not a fair game. However, we still have two games. "We fight on the field," said Erick.

Also read: Referee Controversy Dashes the Hopes of the U-23 Indonesian National Team

In that match, Indonesia lost 0-2 to Qatar. Two Indonesian players also received red cards for fouls that should not have been punished that severely.

The first controversial decision was made by Kabirov with two minutes of normal time left in the first half. He pointed to the spot to give Qatar a penalty kick after watching the video of the incident between the defender and captain of Indonesia U-23, Rizky Ridho, and Qatar striker, Mahdi Salem Al-Mejaba.

Initially, Kabirov gave Indonesia a free kick penalty. However, the decision was overturned after consulting with Thailand's video assistant referee (VAR) assistant, Sivakorin Pu-Udon.

In the replay, Ridho was seen swinging his elbow which hit Mahdi's head. Despite the very minor contact, Ridho was still considered to have committed a violation. Qatar was given a penalty and Ridho was given a yellow card. The decision led Indonesia U-23 Coach Shin Tae-yong to protest to fourth referee Mooud Bonyadifard on the sidelines.

Also read: Great hopes surround the U-23 Indonesian National Team

Don't let this game ruin your focus. We're not done yet, there are still two games left. We have to fight. That's us.

Another controversy was brought up by Kabirov when he gave a second yellow card to Indonesian midfielder, Ivar Jenner, just one minute into the second half. Ivar was considered to have committed a foul against Qatar's left wing defender, Saifeldeen Hassan.

However, in the replay, Ivar moved to avoid Saifeldeen's tackle. Nonetheless, he was unable to avoid it when the edge of his shoe cleat briefly touched the Qatar defender's thigh.

At the 57th minute, Kabirov only gave Saifeldeen a yellow card for kicking Witan Sulaeman when he was already behind in a one-on-one situation, causing the Indonesian winger to no longer be able to enter the final third of Qatar's defense zone unguarded.

The referee ran towards the violation and reached into his pants pocket. He briefly held a red card, but when he approached Saifeldeen, Kabirov put away the red card and reached back into his pocket to take out a yellow card.

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At the 90+6 minute mark, substitute striker Ramadhan Sananta was also given a red card after Kabirov reviewed the replay of Sananta's violation against Qatar's captain and defender, Mohamed Emad Aiash. Before consulting with VAR, Kabirov only gave Sananta a yellow card.

Shin expressed strong protest to the leadership of the referee. According to him, it is understandable that sometimes the home team benefits from the referee. However, what he witnessed in the match against Qatar was an excessive bias of the referee towards the home team.

"The referee's decisions are not like in a (football) match. It's like a comedy show. I cannot say anything," Shin said in a press conference after the game.

Also read: Arriving in Qatar, Indonesia is ready to compete for tickets to the Paris Olympics

Despite receiving a decision deemed unfair by the referee, Erick gave a message to the players to not be influenced and to keep fighting in the remaining two matches. The players were asked to continue playing to the best of their abilities in order to advance to the knockout stage.

"Don't let this game ruin your focus. We're not done yet, there are still two games. We have to fight. That's us. Earlier, the nine of you played, fight. Eleven must be able to fight more. There are still two games. In principle this is not the end, we still have two games. "We have to fight back," said Erick.