The Indonesian Football Federation (PSSI) will file a complaint to FIFA regarding the referee in the match against Bahrain in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
“We have submitted a complaint to FIFA, PSSI is very disappointed with the way the referees handled the match. We feel they added extra time until Bahrain scored a goal,” Indonesian media quoted PSSI leader Arya Sinulingga as saying.
Indonesia continued to experience their third draw in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The archipelago team played strongly away from home. They lost in the 15th minute with a great goal from Marhoon. But Oratmangoen and Rafael Struick scored consecutive goals to help the Indonesian team take the lead.
Security forces escorted the referee off the field.
The drama took place in the second half’s injury time. Initially, the referee team announced that the injury time would be 6 minutes. But when Bahrain was awarded a corner kick leading to the goal, it was already the 8th minute of injury time. When the goal was scored by the home team, the clock had already entered the 9th minute of injury time. Disagreeing with referee Ahmed Al Kaf, the Indonesian players surrounded the referee and expressed their anger.
The situation was so serious that the home team’s security force had to escort the entire referee team off the field. Before that, the head of the Indonesian team received a direct red card for his reactions. On social media, Indonesian fans used many harsh words to criticize Mr. Ahmed Al Kaf.
“The chaos on the field broke out after Ahmed Al Kaf blew the final whistle. Some players of the Indonesian team, especially defender Shayne Pattynama, expressed their anger towards the referee. The victory of the Indonesian team against Bahrain was robbed by referee Ahmed Al Kaf,” commented Bola.
However, the Indonesian team still left an impression on Southeast Asian fans. It was not easy to maintain an unbeaten record in the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup. With 3 points after 3 draws, coach Shin Tae-yong and his team are temporarily ranked 5th but only 1 point behind the teams above. In this group, only Japan won with 9 full points after 3 matches.
