The U-23 Indonesian National Team Officially Launches Protests To The AFC

The U-23 Indonesian national team manager, Endri Erawan (center), admitted that he had protested to the AFC (doc. PSSI).

PSSI has officially protested to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) regarding the leadership of referee Nasrullo Kabirov and video assistant referee (VAR), Sivakorn Pu-Udom.

The protest was the aftermath of the controversial defeat of the U-23 Indonesian national team against Qatar U-23 in the inaugural match of Group A of the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup on April 15, 2024.

The match took place at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Doha, and ended with a 2-0 victory for Qatar U-23.

However, the leadership of Nasrullo and VAR is considered one-sided. In addition to the spotlight on penalties for Qatar, the red cards sent to Ivar Jenner and Ramadhan Sananta were also labeled wrong.

"Of course we are all disappointed with the leadership of referee Nasrullo Kabirov and VAR referee, Sivakorn Pu-Udom. Everyone can see that they make a lot of decisions that harm Indonesia."

"After the match, representing the team, we officially protested to the AFC regarding their decisions," said Endri Erawan, U-23 Indonesian National Team Manager.

"We know that this protest will not change the results of the match. However, at least for the next matches in the prestigious U-23 2024 Asian Cup, the referees and match equipment can be even better at making decisions that do not harm the U-23 Indonesian national team," said the man who is also a member of the PSSI Executive Committee (Exco).

In addition to the referee's performance, Indonesia U-23 also felt uncomfortable with the host's service, especially when leaving for the stadium from the hotel ahead of the match against Qatar U-23.

"Yes, there was an incident that we regretted, namely the Indonesian team bus when we left the hotel to the stadium where the match was, we missed a long road and went around (out of the normal lane). As a result, we were one team that had been late entering the stadium for almost 20 minutes, should have only been 8-10 minutes from the hotel to the stadium."

"Usually and according to regulations, we came to the stadium 90 minutes before kick-off. I don't know who's wrong, what is clear is that we also reported it to the AFC because it made us all lose time and uncomfortable," said Endri.