Shin Tae-yong: Cheating Happened Since We Went To The Stadium

Not only the referee, the Indonesian U-23 team also felt like they were being "worked on" by the organizers on their way to the match stadium.

AFC/MUSTAFA ABUMUNES

Rio Fahmi, an Indonesian winger, disembarked from the team bus upon arriving at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium ahead of the match against Qatar on Monday (15/4/2024). The Indonesian team's late arrival at the stadium had an impact on the team's preparation.

AL RAYYAN, TUESDAY - Coach of the Indonesian U-23 team Shin Tae-yong has mentioned the signs of "cheating" by Qatar were felt even before the match between Indonesia and Qatar on Monday (April 15, 2024) at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Al Rayyan, Doha, Qatar. This was evident from the duration of the "Garuda Muda" squad's journey from the hotel to the stadium, which took much longer than usual.

"Yesterday (Sunday), during the field introduction session, we only traveled from the hotel to the stadium for seven minutes, but today (Monday) it took 25 minutes. The bus went to another location until we finally arrived at the stadium in 25 minutes," said Shin in a press conference after the Indonesia vs Qatar match that ended 0-2 on Tuesday (16/4/2024) early morning Western Indonesia Time.

Shin's surprise is quite reasonable because the Indonesian squad's residence during the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup at the Westin Doha Hotel is only about 4.5 kilometers away from Jassim bin Hamad Stadium located in Al Sadd, Al Rayyan. In normal conditions with a private car, both places can be reached in less than 10 minutes.

However, with Indonesia's status as a contestant in the 2024 U-23 Asia Cup, the Local Tournament Committee is expected to provide bus facilities along with traffic escort and engineering services. With such services, the "Garuda Muda" squad bus should receive priority to travel on the road.

AFC/NOUFAL IBRAHIM

Indonesian players are practicing ahead of the match against Qatar in the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium before the match against Qatar on Monday (15/4/2024).

Kompas 's experience includes live coverage of the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup, traffic engineering implemented in Doha and its surroundings for participating team buses in the form of eliminating red lights on the route from the team hotel to the training field and match stadium. As a result, the traffic lights the team bus passes are always green. As a result, vehicles in other lanes have to experience the red light for longer, even up to 15 minutes.

On the other hand, in the two previous major football tournaments in Qatar, each bus driver of the participating teams also had a "rule", that is, the team's journey from the hotel to the training field and the match stadium, and vice versa, should not exceed 15 minutes.

Referring to those two conditions, it is understandable why Shin protested against the long travel time of his foster children to the first match location. The distance from the Indonesian team's hotel to Jassim bin Hamad Stadium with maximum traffic control and engineering is only 10 minutes.

When asked by a Qatari journalist about the 25-minute travel time that was considered normal, Shin replied, "Under normal circumstances, we can travel for 30 minutes without any problem. However, we have experienced before that the hotel to stadium can be reached in about seven minutes, but today it took 25 minutes. Why did this happen? I cannot answer that."

Also read: Controversial Referee, PSSI Files Protest to AFC

AFC/NOUFAL IBRAHIM

Referee Nasrullo Kabirov (second from left) entered the field while holding the ball before leading the match between Qatar and Indonesia at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, ahead of the match against Qatar on Monday (15/4/2024).

"As a competing team, we are required to arrive at the stadium 90 minutes before the start of the football match (at 5:00 PM local time), but we only arrived at 5:15 PM. This clearly had an impact on our preparations, especially for the players. So, we had a very tight preparation time for the competition," Shin continued.

Meanwhile, the Qatar squad has arrived at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium complex at 4:50 pm local time. That means the time difference between the arrival of both teams reaches 25 minutes.

The audience was disappointed

Apart from that, PSSI has also submitted an official letter of protest to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) regarding the leadership of referee Nasrullo Kabirov which is considered beneficial Qatar. The decision letter was contained in the match report submitted by Indonesian officials to the Match Commissioner.

"We as a federation will protest regarding the referee's performance. You see all the Indonesian people, social media netizens, everyone is with us. "Because they know, this is not a fair match," said PSSI General Chair Erick Thohir in his official statement.

Also read: Referee Controversy Dashes the Hopes of the U-23 Indonesian National Team

We have experienced before, the distance from the hotel to the stadium can be covered in around 7 minutes, but today it takes 25 minutes. Why did this happen?

AFC/MUSTAFA ABUMUNES

Indonesian diaspora provided full support for the first match of Group A of the 2024 Asia U-23 Cup, on Monday (15/4/2024), at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar. Approximately 4,000 supporters of Garuda Muda filled the stadium stands.

Erick, along with PSSI's Vice Chairman Zainudin Amali and PSSI's Secretary General Yunus Nusi, watched the match directly from the Naratama Tribune at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium. After the game, Erick immediately met with the Indonesian players at the team hotel to keep the spirit of the Garuda Muda squad from breaking ahead of the remaining two matches in Group A of the 2024 Asian U-23 Cup.

Although the protest letter will not affect the outcome of the match, Shin believes that Indonesia's assessment and criticism of the referee's leadership is necessary so that AFC can improve the quality of the referee in the next matches. Indonesia also did this when they felt disadvantaged by the referee's decision in the first game of the 2023 Asian Cup in January, against Iraq.

To submit the protest letter, it is not free. PSSI must incur administrative costs that are not small. In the 2023 Asian Cup, the official protest letter "costs" amounted to 500 US dollars or around IDR 8 million.

”AFC can no longer be like this (having biased referees). "For fans watching the match at home, they were angry because what they saw was a joke, not a football match," said Shin.