Omani players and coaching staff shelter from objects thrown by Burmese fans.
Burma will likely face disciplinary action and a possible ban by football's world body, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), after crowd violence forced a World Cup qualifying match on Thursday between Burma and Oman to be abandoned before half time with Oman leading 4-0 on aggregate.
FIFA, which is currently embroiled in its own internal corruption scandal, has made no comment as yet, but an official from the Myanmar Football Federation (MFF) told The Irrawaddy on Friday that he expects FIFA will “definitely take action” against the Burmese national team and the MFF.
The match in question, a second round qualifying match for the 2014 World Cup in Brasil, was a second-leg match played after Oman won the first leg 2-0 in Muscat. The game was played at the Thuwunna stadium in Rangoon and was attended by an estimated 10,000 fans.
Tempers flared after Oman scored a penalty late in the first half to make the score 2-0. Facing defeat and elimination, incensed home fans began throwing stones, shoes, bottles and sharp objects onto the pitch. A member of Oman's coaching staff was reportedly injured by a flying object, and the referee abandoned the game.
According to an observer, many of the fans were drunk and some had even brought liquor and beer into the stadium.
Armed security guards were called in to surround the pitch, preventing a possible invasion, before the players and officials were ushered off into a makeshift tunnel, shielded by police officers.
The observer said that fans were infuriated when the referee awarded a spot kick to the Omani team, which Ismail al Ajmi converted, doubling the Middle Eastern side's lead after Ahmed Ali had put them ahead on 22 minutes with a header.
Another observer said many fans had entered the stadium without tickets, and that there were too few security guards at the gates to carry out security checks on the wave of fans coming in.
MFF Chairman Zaw Zaw, one of Burmese best-known tycoons and a close friend of the military generals, addressed the crowd by loudspeaker and tried to calm down the fans, so the match could be restarted. However, objects continued to be thrown toward the pitch, and the referee announced that the game was abandoned.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Friday, MFF official Soe Moe said, “Yesterday was a huge opportunity for our team to qualify for the next stage of the World Cup. If that incident had not happened, we would have stood a chance.
“But now, some bad apples in the crowd have spoiled it for everyone. They have shamed us,” he said.
"Now FIFA will definitely take action against the Burmese football team and the MFF,” he said. “However, we will appeal to have any punishment reduced.”
He said he feared the national team may be banned from playing international matches or from hosting games.
But Soe Moe said the incident would not affect Burma's hosting of the 2013 South East Asian Games, commonly known as the SEA Games.
“The SEA Games includes many different kinds of sports, not just football,” he said. “We are not worried that this incident will affect our hosting of the games in 2013.”