In a dramatic, late-night turn of events in Kuwait on Thursday night, the Bahrain team, which had been celebrating what they thought was their qualification for the semi-finals of the Fourth West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) Men’s Futsal Championship were suddenly informed by the organisers that they had not, in fact, reached the last-four stage.
Earlier, in an astounding turnaround of their fortunes, Bahrain appeared to have qualified on top in their group after drubbing the UAE 7-2 in their last game and seeing Oman and Lebanon draw their match 3-3. These two results meant that Bahrain, Oman and Lebanon all ended the group stage level on five points each with the top two teams being decided on goal difference.
“All of us thought that Bahrain had qualified,” an audibly upset Bahrain team manager, Raed Baba, told the GDN by phone from Kuwait. “Everyone thought so – even the other teams, including Lebanon, who thought they had been relegated to third place after their match with Oman. But then, some time later, we were informed that, according to this tournament’s rules, Oman and Lebanon were the teams actually going through.”
The confusion arose, Baba said, because of the vague wording of the competition’s rules.
“We thought we had already qualified after we beat the UAE by such a big margin,” he explained. “This was hours before the Oman-Lebanon match. The TV people, the commentators, the other teams thought that as well. Then, after Oman and Lebanon drew their game, everyone thought – just as we did – that we had catapulted to first place in the table, up from third position earlier.”
TV footage of the closing seconds of Bahrain’s win against the UAE showed the kingdom’s team celebrating enthusiastically, while a commentator shouted, repeatedly in Arabic, that Bahrain had qualified for the semi-finals. Later, after the Oman-Lebanon draw, more similar comments played out on live TV coverage.
Then, the drama began, Baba said.
“Our team management was summoned by the organising committee afterwards and we were informed, to our collective shock, that Oman and Lebanon were the two teams going through,” he explained. “This was apparently because of tournament rules which dictated that the goal difference be calculated only of the three teams that had ended up level on five points, based on the matches they had played against each other.”
This interpretation of the rules, Baba added, meant that Bahrain’s game against the UAE, which lost all three group matches, was not included in the calculations.
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“Neither were the UAE’s matches against Oman and Lebanon,” he continued. “This meant that goal difference was calculated based only on games played by Bahrain, Oman and Lebanon against each other. According to those figures, Oman finished on top and Lebanon in second place. We were told that our championship campaign was over.”
What he couldn’t understand, Baba stressed, was why it took so long for the organisers to clarify what the actual state of affairs was.
“All four teams were there throughout the afternoon and evening,” he said. “It was announced on TV after our game against the UAE – which was held in the afternoon – that we were through to the semi-finals, with our only interest in the Oman-Lebanon game being to see if we’d finish first or second. We could have been told, then, that the result of our game against the UAE would have no bearing on the final calculations.”
Despite being quite upset, however, Baba said he had had time to reflect on the decision overnight and a team decision had been reached that no appeal would be lodged.
“Of course, what happened to us isn’t fair,” he said. “But, rules are rules. I just wish they hadn’t been worded so vaguely that none of the participating teams were aware of what they actually were.
“But, all said and done, I am immensely proud of our team. They played like champions and, if not for this strange anomaly, would have played in the semi-finals and probably gone on to win the final. I would like to thank the Bahrain Football Association and Bahraini fans for their constant support.”
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