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 [May 17, 2023]
By Prak Chan Thul
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Thai football chiefs apologized on Wednesday
and promised "severe punishments" for wrongdoers after brawls marred
the South East Asia Games soccer final against Indonesia in
Cambodia.
Indonesia won the under-23 match 5-2 on Tuesday after extra time, by
which time Thailand had been reduced to eight players and the
Indonesians to 10 in the wake of four red cards and two all-in
brawls.
The Thailand Football Association said the incidents at Phnom Penh's
Olympic Stadium had damaged the image of the national team and
singled out the involvement of their coaching staff for particular
criticism.
"The association would like to express its disappointment and
apologize for the chaotic incident that occurred off pitch," the TFA
said in a statement.
"Especially the staff and coach who representative all Thais, during
every minute of their duty, they must maintain their calm emotions
under high pressure.
"There will be a committee to investigate all those involved and
there will be punishment, there will be no protection to those
involved. The investigation will begin immediately when the team
returns home."
The first brawl was sparked when the referee blew his whistle close
to full time and Indonesia's players and coaches celebrated thinking
they had won the game 2-1.
The whistle was in fact for a free kick, from which Yotsakorn
Burapha scored an equalizer which triggered violent clashes between
the two benches.
That sent the match into extra time but Indonesia were soon back in
front, sparking another flurry of shoves, punches and kicks between
coaches and players from both sides which stadium security were
forced to break up.
Indonesia coach Indra Sjafri was in no mood to hold grudges after
leading his country to the SEA Games gold medal for the first time
since 1991, a feat celebrated by President Joko Widodo.
"The tension of the match was high," he told MetroTV.
[to top of second column] |
Southeast Asian Games - Football - Men's
Final - Indonesia v Thailand - Olympic National Stadium, Phnom Penh,
Cambodia - May 16, 2023 Thailand's Chatmongkol Rueangthanarot in
action with Indonesia's Muhammad Fajar Fathur Rachman REUTERS/Chalinee
Thirasupa
"Let there not be blame on one another. This was a
marvelous final."
Football enjoys a massive following in Indonesia but the game has
endured a miserable eight months since a stadium disaster killed 135
people in the town of Malang last October.
That was followed by FIFA stripping the nation of the right to stage
this year's under-20 soccer World Cup in a row over the
participation of Israel.
"Let this be the momentum of the resurrection of Indonesian
football," Sjafri said.
Keo Sareth, secretary general of the Football Federation of Cambodia
(FFC), was equally forgiving of the ugly scenes.
"We have no problem with them and as the hosts, we have completely
and successfully hosted the match," he said.
"Problems occurred on the pitch will be handled by match officials
and they are doing a report to send to Asian Football Confederation
(AFC), so they may face penalties in regards to code of ethics and
disciplinary."
There was no immediate response to a request for comment from the
AFC.
(Reporting by Stanley Widianto in Jakarta, Chayut Setboonsarng in
Bangkok and Prak Chan Thul in Phnom Penh, writing by Nick Mulvenney,
editing by Robert Birsel)
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