Drama as Singapore beats Thailand in the 1st leg of the ASEAN Championships Final

In all my years of watching football, I have never come across what happened earlier tonight during the match between Singapore and Thailand at the Singapore National Stadium. Both teams were playing in the 1st leg of the ASEAN Football Championship Final and the scores were at 1-1 when the drama happened.

Singapore got a penalty after striker Noh Alam Shah was pulled down in the Thai penalty box. The Thai players then stormed towards the referee disagreeing with his decision and then amazingly walked off the field. From ESPN:

The match was plunged into controversy in the 82nd minute when referee C.Ravichandran pointed to the spot after Alam Shah tumbled in the box under challenge from Niweat.

The Thais protested by walking off the pitch in protest and refused to return for 15 minutes.

Thai team manager Thavatchai Sajakul spent several minutes discussing the matter with match commissioner Mohamad Ameen before finally convincing his team to return.

When the action finally resumed, Fahruddin kept his cool to fire the ball into the top right corner of the Thai net.

It was really a disgraceful act from the Thais and especially more so since they did it in a final of a regional football competition. I think FIFA rules states that any team that walks off during a game will lose the match and be thrown out of the competition. What the Thais did was plain stupid, something that we can only expect from school boys.

Singapore deserved to win the match. They had more of the goal scoring chances and although it's just a narrow 2-1 win to take to Thailand for the 2nd leg, I feel Singapore can hold out for a draw there and win the ASEAN Championship for the second time in a row. As for Thailand, I hope FIFA will fine them for their disgraceful behaviour. Shame on you, Thailand!