A national youth football tournament ended with India and Bangladesh as winners, after officials initially tried to resolve the tie by tossing a coin.
In the final of the SAFF Women’s Under-19 Championship, India took the lead early on before Bangladesh pulled one back in injury time and thus sending the game to penalties.
With the score tied 11-11, the referees opted to hold a draw to decide who would be named the winner of the tournament.
A video that appeared on reddit showed the moment when the coin was tossed and India was declared the winner.
Players and staff immediately erupted in celebration as those on the Bangladesh bench protested the referee’s decision.
A national youth tournament ended with India and Bangladesh as winners
The referees opted to hold a draw to decide who would be named the winner of the tournament, after the score remained 11-11 in the penalty shootout.
Initially, India was declared the winner and ran away jubilantly after the coin toss.
Bangladesh was left furious and argued with officials before the decision was overturned.
Your browser does not support iframes.
The furious coaching staff was seen arguing with the referee after the draw, and fans in the stadium also expressed their frustrations.
However, following discussion on the field, it was later revealed that the decision to give victory to India was to be reversed.
Footage then showed players from each team sharing the trophy and that both India and Bangladesh had been ruled joint winners.
It later emerged that there was no mention of a coin toss in the tournament statutes and match commissioner De Silva Jayasuriya Dilan ordered the toss not to be held.
An AIFF source reportedly said PTI“It was a good gesture on the part of the Indian Football Federation. We accept the decision to declare both parties joint winners.”