BANGKOK, Oct 16: Bahrain snatched a late goal to draw 1-1 with Thailand in a passionate Asian World Cup qualifier here Tuesday in which Malaysian referee Karim Abdul Hamid was pelted with missiles after the equaliser came late in injury time.

With nothing at stake but honour in the rescheduled bottom-of-the-table Group A match, Thailand scored first in the 19th minute with a header from Worawut Srimakha.

The goal brought a raucous response from the 30,000 fans who had streamed into the stadium thanks to a free admission policy.

But in the 32nd minute their mood changed when Hamid disallowed a goal by home captain Kiatisak Senamuang, ruling that another Thai player Sakesan Piturat had fouled Bahrain’s goalkeeper Rahman Karim.

Hamid further angered the crowed in the 74th minute Choketawee Promrat was booked for a second time. Choketawee was soundly applauded as he left the field.

Down to 10 men, Thailand still looked set to register their first win in the qualifiers until four minutes into injury time, and with seconds on the clock, Hussain Ali Ahmed found the net for Bahrain to level the score.

As angry fans threw plastic cups and bottles at Hamid when he left the pitch, Thailand manager Virach Charnpanich said he was disappointed in the refereeing.

Thailand’s English coach Peter Withe said his side failed to retain control of the ball and conceded the final goal too easily “but we should have got a penalty and scored more goals in the first half.”

Bahrain’s German coach Wolfgang Sidka conceded that luck was on his side.

The match was originally to have been played last Saturday but was called off after 25 minutes, with Bahrain leading 1-0, when fire broke out at Thailand’s Rajamangala National Stadium.

Meanwhile, leading members of the Iraqi Football Federation (FIF) have offered to stand down en-masse following their side’s failure to qualify for the 2002 World Cup finals, newspapers reported Tuesday.

Senior members offered their resignation to FIF president Uday Saddam Hussein, the eldest son of Iraq president Saddam Hussein.

The letter of resignation, which was published on the front page of the Al-Baas Arriyadhi newspaper, was addressed to Hussein and FIF members by first vice-president Acil Tabra.

Iraq went down 2-1 last Friday to bitter rivals Iran in their Asian Group A qualifying match.

It was Iraq’s first match in the Iranian capital for 25 years and the loss leaves them in third spot in their group with just seven points from eight games.

The win was a huge step towards Iran’s qualifying for next year’s World Cup finals putting them on top of Group A with 15 points, one point ahead of second-placed Saudi Arabia who have also played seven games.

Tables, results and fixtures from Asia’s World Cup 2002 qualifying groups

Tables, results and fixtures from Asia’s qualifying groups for the 2002 World Cup after Tuesday’s matches:

Winners of Group A and Group B qualify for the World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan.

Runners-up in Group A and Group B play-off on a home-and-away basis with the winner qualifying to play Ireland, the runners-up from European zone Group Two.

Group A (Played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points)

Iran 7 4 3 0 9 4 15

Saudi Arabia 7 4 2 1 13 7 14

Iraq 8 2 1 5 9 10 7

Bahrain 7 1 4 2 5 8 7

Thailand 7 0 4 3 4 11 4

Played:

17/08/01: Iraq 4 Thailand 0, at Baghdad; Saudi Arabia 1 Bahrain 1, at Riyadh

23/08/01: Bahrain 2 Iraq 0, at Manama

24/08/01: Iran 2 Saudi Arabia 0, at Tehran

31/08/01: Saudi Arabia 1 Iraq 0, at Manama

01/09/01: Thailand 0 Iran 0, at Bangkok

06/09/01: Bahrain 1 Thailand 1, at Manama

07/09/01: Iraq 1 Iran 2, at Baghdad

14/09/01: Iran 0 Bahrain 0, at Tehran

15/09/01: Thailand 1 Saudi Arabia 3, at Bangkok

21/09/01: Bahrain 0 Saudi Arabia 4, at Manama

22/09/01: Thailand 1 Iraq 1, at Bangkok

28/09/01: Iraq 1 Bahrain 0, at Baghdad, Saudi Arabia 2 Iran 2, at Riyadh

05/10/01: Iran 1 Thailand 0, at Tehran; Iraq 1 Saudi Arabia 2, at Amman

12/10/01: Iran 2 Iraq 1, at Tehran

16/10/01: Thailand 1 Bahrain 1 (note: replay. first match interrupted by fire in Stadium.

To play:

21/10/01: Bahrain v Iran, at Manama; Saudi Arabia v Thailand, at Riyadh (note: new dates following replayed Thailand-Bahrain game)

Group B (Played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points)

China 7 6 1 0 13 1 19

UAE 7 3 1 3 8 9 10

Qatar 8 2 3 3 10 10 9

Uzbekistan 7 2 1 4 12 15 7

Oman 7 1 2 4 5 14 5

China win group and qualify for World Cup finals

Played:

16/08/01: Qatar 0 Oman 0, at Doha

17/08/01: United Arab Emirates 4 Uzbekistan 1, at Abu Dhabi

25/08/01: China 3 UAE 0, at Shenyang

26/08/01: Uzbekistan 2 Qatar 1, at Tashkent

31/08/01: Oman 0 China 2, at Muscat; UAE 0 Qatar 2, at Abu Dhabi

07/09/01: Qatar 1 China 1, at Doha

08/09/01: Uzbekistan 5 Oman 0, at Tashkent

14/09/01: Oman 1 UAE 1, at Muscat

15/09/01: China 2 Uzbekistan 0, at Shenyang

21/09/01: Oman 0 Qatar 3, at Muscat

22/09/01: Uzbekistan 0 UAE 1, at Tashkent

27/09/01: UAE 0 China 1, at Abu Dhabi

28/09/01: Qatar 2 Uzbekistan 2, at Doha

04/10/01: Qatar 1 UAE 2, at Doha

07/10/01: China 1 Oman 0, at Shenyang

13/10/01: Oman 4 Uzbekistan 2, at Muscat; China 3 Qatar 0, at Shenyang

To play:

19/10/01: UAE v Oman, at Abu Dhabi

19/10/01: Uzbekistan v China, at Tashkent.—AFP