KATHMANDU, Oct 27: The semifinal match between Nepal and India under the SAFF Women's Championship-2024 turned tense on Sunday after the referee gave the marching order to Nepal’s forward Rekha Paudel.
Despite a competitive start to the game between the two title contenders at the Dasharath Stadium, the match took an ugly turn in the 50th minute after the assistant referee Choden Chhiring allegedly misjudged Paudel of having committed a foul and the main referee Om Choki seconded the decision by giving her a yellow card. As the enraged Nepali player argued with the referee, she was given a second yellow card and had to leave the pitch as tensions ran high with thousands of home crowd chanting slogans against the so-called unfair decision.
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Video replays showed that Paudel fell down while attempting to steal the ball from behind from India’s R Chonki but there were no signs of foul play. This further enraged the home crowd and the match was suspended for ten minutes.
Taking advantage of 10-member Nepali women’s team, India’s Sangeeta Basfour scored a goal in the 71st minute to give India the lead. The home side was under intense pressure after conceding the goal and hit back an equalizer immediately. However, the referee did not recognize the goal as the stadium turned tense once again. The disappointed crowd chanted ‘referee out’. The referee’s decision caused match disruption again.
Once the disputes were settled, the match resumed and with the clock ticking, Sabitra Bhandari scored an equalizer.
