The All India Football Federation (AIFF) is set to lodge a formal protest against the controversial goal awarded to Qatar in their FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers match against India on June 11. In a decision that has left many fans furious, Qatar's equalizer against India was allowed by the referee despite the ball clearly going out of play.

AIFF to lodge a complaint against the controversial goal in IND vs QAT game

According to RevSportz, AIFF officials are in discussions with Trevor Kettle, the chief refereeing officer of FIFA, regarding the incident that has sparked widespread outrage among football fans. This contentious moment occurred during the second half of the match at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha.

In the 73rd minute, Abdullah Alahrak’s free-kick resulted in Yousef Ayem attempting a header, which was saved by India's goalkeeper, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. As Sandhu lay on the ground, believing the ball had rolled out of play, Hashmi Hussein kicked it back into play, allowing Aymen to slot it into the net. Despite immediate protests from the Indian team, the referee upheld the goal, leading to a storm of controversy.

Watch the controversial goal here:

India vs Qatar, FIFA World Cup Qualifiers

India were ahead thanks to Lallianzuala Chhangte's 37th minute strike but disaster struck when the referee adjudged Yousef Aymen's goal as fair after the ball appeared to have gone out of play.

The hugely controversial decision disturbed India's momentum as Asian champions Qatar scored their second through Ahmed Al-Rawi in the 85th minute.

In another final second round match, Kuwait beat Afghanistan 1-0. Qatar and Kuwait thus progressed to the second round.

Playing barely five days after the international retirement of arguably the country's greatest footballer Sunil Chhetri, not many gave the beleaguered 121-ranked side a chance, but Igor Stimac's wards turned the tables in style and looked on course after Chhangte's strike.

The strike also made Chhangte India's highest-scoring active player with 8 goals.

(With PTI inputs)