Five bookings in a match for a team that had committed very little fouls is really harsh.

Five key Bangladeshi players were shown yellow cards by Yemeni referee Al Yarimi Mukhtar during Saturday's SAFF Championship match against Nepal, but many felt the man in charge was over cautious, if not over reacted.

Striker Farhad received the first booking for showing discontent over a decision against him but the referee's red eyes followed Aminul, Titu and Kanchan who were booked for delaying in the field.

Goalkeeper Aminul was seconds late to take a goalkick, fullback Titu was waiting to find a teammate to throw the ball in while forward Kanchan, just after scoring his second goal of the match, was walking to the lines to be substituted when the card was flashed.

Central defender Rajani was the only one among the lot to be cautioned for a tackle late in the match.

"I don't like to speak against referees but I think he was showing too much sensibility about some yellow cards. Titu or Aminul did not deserve cards. May be Kanchan was a bit slow during his return but Farhad was also wrongly cautioned. Some referees think differently and I am more interested to think about our performance," commented Bangladesh's Argentine coach Diego Cruciani.

"We wanted to lodge an official complaint but later decided against it. I smell something foul and may be, people want to weaken our strength ahead of the semifinals," added manager Sayeed Hasan Kanan.

"Nepal played rough but we were clean. And I am not happy the way we received five yellow cards. We should be more careful in out next game against India," said Bangladesh captain Arif Khan Joy.