Losing the ticket to the Olympics, Indonesia also had to apologize because fans seriously insulted U.23 Guinea.

In the play-off match on the evening of May 9, U.23 Indonesia was completely outclassed by Guinea. Coach Shin Tae-yong's team was "overwhelmed" by the opponent's strong and fast squad. Despite their best efforts, Indonesia still lost 0-1, thereby shattering their dream of participating in the Olympics after 68 years of waiting.

In addition to the penalty in the middle of the first half that Ilaix Moriba successfully executed, U.23 Guinea also had a penalty in the second half. However, Algassime Bah could not take advantage when his shot hit the post.

Notably, after the second penalty kick for U.23 Guinea, the match suddenly became heated. Coach Shin Tae-yong repeatedly protested the referee's decisions and was dismissed in the 75th minute. Then, Indonesian fans in the stands of Stade Pierre Pibarot also whistled and shouted whenever a U.23 Guinea player had the ball. At the end of the match, many collisions between the two sides also occurred continuously.

The match started tensely when U.23 Guinea was awarded the second penalty.

Not stopping there, Indonesian fans attacked the posts of the Guinea Football Federation (FGF) on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram when the match ended.

CNN Indonesia described: “Indonesian fans attacked the FGF Instagram account after the 2024 Olympic play-off match. Many Indonesian fans wrote inappropriate, provocative and even insulting and racist words. Not only the FGF Facebook and Instagram accounts, some Guinea players were also attacked via social media. Among them, the account of Ilaix Moriba, who scored the only goal against U.23 Indonesia, received many insulting words.”

Ilaix Moriba was scored the only goal in the play-off match by Indonesian fans and suffered insults from Indonesian fans

Following social media platforms, Indonesian fans began to “attack” Guinean newspapers. “ Joueurs Guineens , Foot 224 and several other Guinean newspapers all disabled comments when publishing articles about the match between Guinea U23 and Indonesia U23. Racist and insulting comments continued to be made to the players, which was unimaginable,” CNN Indonesia commented.

The incident became so serious that more than half of the U.23 Guinea squad locked all their personal pages. PSSI Executive Committee member Arya Sinulingga had to speak up: "The players went home with their heads held high and relieved, accepting defeat against the strength of U.23 Guinea. Therefore, we hope that Indonesian fans should do the same, behave in a civilized manner. Do not tarnish what U.23 Indonesia has tried with insulting comments about the opposing players. The dreams of the young people still have a long way to go, please do not destroy them with shameful racist actions."

On the evening of May 10, PSSI also had to post an apology to the coaching staff and players of Guinea. PSSI wrote: “On behalf of the Indonesian national football team, we sincerely apologize and regret the inconvenience caused by all the inappropriate comments and attacks on your social media accounts.

Indonesian players fully respect diversity and embrace all cultures with an open mind. As a nation, we always oppose racism and hate speech in all forms. The Indonesian national team is concerned about the many racist remarks and comments from some individuals on social media. All these negative comments have tarnished the noble values ​​of true Indonesian fans.”

PSSI must post an apology to U.23 Guinea

In addition to the U.23 Guinea players, the identity of the main referee Francois Letexier was also quickly sought by fans of the "Land of Thousand Islands". Criticisms also continuously appeared and currently show no signs of stopping.

Coach Shin Tae-yong said about the referee: "Although he is a FIFA referee, I am very disappointed. If you watch the video of the first goal, it was a foul outside the penalty area. The second penalty was a tackle by our defender. However, unfortunately, my team was penalized. If you play a fair match based on your skills and lose, you can congratulate and respect U.23 Guinea. However, it would be extremely unfair if the match was lost due to the referee's decision. All my preparations for this match were in vain. I hope such unfairness will not happen in the future."

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mat-ve-du-olympic-indonesia-con-phai-xin-loi-vi-cdv-xuc-pham-nghiem-trong-u23-guinea-18524051022490194.htm