Thai midfielder: 'The referee was the cause of the chaos in the SEA Games final'
On the evening of May 16 on the Olympic Stadium, Thai and Indonesian members clashed twice. The culmination was after the goal of the Indonesian striker Irfan Jauhari to raise the score to 3-2 at the beginning of extra time, causing the referee to give five red cards directly to the players and coaching staff of the two teams.
"The referee made a lot of mistakes, and that's what led to the fight," Jonathan Khemdee told MetaSports. "The referee didn't control the game, then everyone started fighting."
According to the Danish-born midfielder, the referee's biggest mistake was in Thailand's second goal. In the fifth minute of the first half, an Indonesian player injured his head, so the referee blew the whistle to stop the game when the ball was not under any team's control. After the Indonesian player left the field on a stretcher, the referee handed the ball to captain Rizky Ridho, when the Thai player was ordered not to contest the ball. Ridho surged up near the Thai penalty area, allowing striker Ramadhan Sananta to seize the opportunity to fly over goalkeeper Soponwit Rakyart into the net, raising the score to 2-0 for Indonesia.
The Thai player complained to the Omani referee Kassem Matar Al-Hatmi, because they thought that Ridho should have returned the ball to Thailand. But Mr. Al-Hatmi still recognized the goal after consulting with the line referee. "Playing football must have a spirit of fair-play," Khemdee said. "I'm disappointed because that goal was a huge mistake from the referee."
At the end of the second half, the referee's whistle made the Indonesian coach misunderstood, thinking that the time was up to rush into the field to celebrate, while it was a penalty for Thailand. It was from this situation that Thailand scored a 2-2 equalizer, then ran to Indonesia's technical area to celebrate provocatively, leading to a scuffle. In extra time, after raising the score to 3-2, Indonesia celebrated the response. This clash caused the match to be interrupted for several minutes. A series of red cards were drawn at the same time.
After order was restored, Thailand lost two more players to penalty cards, including Khemdee for fouling an Indonesian player. Playing with nine people, the Golden Temple team could not stand it, conceded two more goals and lost 2-5 in the end.
The 21-year-old midfielder felt sad when the fans present at the Olympic stadium had to witness the shameful image created by the two teams. Having played in Europe, Khemdee affirmed that the biggest difference is that the referee work in Southeast Asia is not good enough. "The referee has no control over this game," he said. "In all situations, the referee must always keep a fair attitude, but this game the referees can't do that."
This failure means that Thailand missed the appointment with the gold medal for three consecutive SEA Games.
For Khemdee, this is the second time in a row he lost in the SEA Games final. At the 31st Congress last year, he and Thailand lost 0-1 to host Vietnam after Nham Manh Dung's header scored.
After the 32nd SEA Games, Khemdee will take a break from the Thai national team for a while. He wants to put all his focus on his current club - Ratchaburi FC.
