Indian football team head coach Igor Stimac saw a red card in India’s 2023 SAFF Championship opener against Pakistan after preventing one of its players from taking a quick throw-in.
It led to a one-match suspension for the Croat, but he justified his actions by tweeting – “You can hate or love me for my actions yesterday, but I am a warrior, and I will do it again when needed to protect our boys on the pitch against unjustified decisions.”
One would think that coming back from a suspension, Stimac would exercise caution on the touchline. But, as fate would have it, the coach was once again shown a red card during India’s final group stage match against Kuwait – this time for showing dissent.
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India was in control having taken a 1-0 lead and while many might argue that Stimac should have been more disciplined - given the advantageous position the Blue Tigers were in - assistant coach Mahesh Gawli did not hold back in remonstrating the decision of referee Alomgir flashing a red card to Stimac as India settled for a 1-1 draw.
“Igor Stimac did nothing wrong [today]. It was very bad refereeing, and if you continue using such referees in the SAFF Cup, the standards will drop. SAFF has to think about this referee because there were quality teams today, and he should have controlled [the match], but he did not,” Gawli said.
What exactly happened?
Stimac received a yellow card in the 61st minute after getting involved in the match physically. Hamad Alqallaf pushed Mahesh down, which led to the Croat grabbing the ball and pausing play. Ideally, that should have been warning enough, but the criticism continued from Stimac’s end.
In the 81st minute, the fourth official called the referee and alerted him about the Indian coach’s behaviour on the touchline. And in a flash, Alomgir reached for his pocket and brandished a red card for Stimac.
“I don’t know about the second one [the red card]. We were there, but I could not hear anything. The fourth official called the referee and just asked him to show him the card. A Kuwaiti player was saying bad words to the coach [Stimac], but the referee did not see anything. He abused, but only our coach got the red card. It is not right,” Gawli added.
Stimac shown red card during India vs Kuwait SAFF Championship game
Asked if Stimac could have exercised caution after receiving the yellow card, Gawli said, “That was the referee’s decision. He could have avoided showing the red card. He knew everything that had happened. Our coach did not say anything to them.”
Thoughts on the match
Contrary to the general consensus, India played the better football against Kuwait, especially in the first half. Making use of both the flanks, winning the midfield battle and maintaining a compact defence - the Blue Tigers ticked all the boxes. Apart from the pockets of Kuwaiti dominance, the home side seemed to have a grip on the proceedings.
Post Stimac’s red card, the Indians were disjointed, and Anwar Ali scored a late own goal to level the score.
“He was very good. We can see his confidence. There was so much pressure in such a big match, but he was playing like a cool and calm player,” Gawli said on Anwar’s performance.
Talking about his team’s overall gameplay, the assistant coach concluded by saying, “Today, my team was brilliant. They played excellent football, and I am proud of my boys. But Kuwait played rough, and as I said, the refereeing was poor.”
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