Holiday Ayo - Referee Ahmed Al Kaf was in the spotlight and criticized by the public after leading the Bahrain vs Indonesia match which sparked controversy.

He let the match run through injury time until Bahrain scored. The Indonesian National Team (Timnas) was forced to settle for a 2-2 draw when they played an away match in Bahrain in the third round of the 2026 Asian Zone World Cup Qualifiers last night.

This result was a big loss for the Garuda Squad because Bahrain's equalizer was created when second half injury time had expired.

For information, Indonesia was behind 0-1 in the 15th minute due to a goal from Mohamed Marhoon.

However, the Red and White Team managed to balance the scoreboard thanks to Ragnar Oratmangoen in the 45+3 minute.

In the second half, Rafael Struick succeeded in putting Indonesia ahead thanks to his goal in the 74th minute.

Shin Tae-yong's men should have managed to get three points because no additional goals were scored until injury time ended.

However, a controversial referee's decision cost the three points. The following is a series of controversies created by referee Ahmad Al Kaf.

1. Injury Time

Referee Ahmad Al Kaf added six minutes of additional time in the second half. However, the match time was delayed by 100 minutes so Bahrain seemed to have a new opportunity to score 2-2 on the scoreboard.

The delay in the match allowed Mohamed Marhoon to score another goal in the 90+9 minute.

This goal was the culmination of referee Al Kaf's controversy because he allowed it to stand, even though injury time had already expired.

Seeing this, the Indonesian players and team officials, including Shin Tae Yong, protested to the referee.

In fact, the manager of the Indonesian National Team, Sumardji, received a red card from the referee.

After the match, the Indonesian national team defender, Shayne Pattynama, was also involved in a commotion with the Bahrain camp and had to be separated.

2. Easy to give fouls to Bahrain players

Referee Al Kaf often gives the host an advantage in the form of a foul prize. The Bahrain players were often awarded fouls even though the touches from the Indonesian national team players to the opponents were relatively minimal.

This continued to happen throughout the third round of the 2026 Asian Zone World Cup Qualification match which Jay Idzes et al complained about.

3. Don't give a free kick to Indonesia

The most obvious controversy regarding Referee Al Kaf was when he did not give the Indonesian National Team a free kick in the second half.

This moment occurred when Rafael Struick was violated by a Bahrain defender near the penalty box.

Instead of giving RI a free kick, Ahmed Al Kaf just let the match continue. Not long after that moment, the moving ball appeared to hit the referee.

Al Kaf then dropped the ball with the ball for the Indonesian national team even though a clear violation was committed by the Bahrain player on Struick.