Foul!

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Malaysia has qualified for the Under -23 Asian Cup football tournament in Doha, Qatar next year under the supervision of head coach, E. Elavarasan.   Malaysia qualified previously in 2018 and 2022. This is an achievement by all means, given the fact that Elavarasan only had around seven months to mould the team into a winning combination. Elavarasan, who is also the assistant to senior national team coach Kim Pan-gon, has a very successful coaching journey in the Malaysian Super League.   He has a 'midas touch' and has continuously achieved great success with many teams that he had managed in the Malaysian league. He has a knack of leading under-performing teams to get promotion to a higher league and is known to be a no-nonsense coach and disciplinarian on the field. As the head coach of the U-23 national squad, his squad won the Merlion Cup in Singapore, reached the semi-finals of the AFF U-23 Cup in in Rayong and recently achieved their target to qualif...

1. The subject of unpaid wages in the Malaysian football scene is nothing new. 2. Every year, just before the new season begins, reports of footballers and coaches not receiving their dues for months hog the limelight. 3. This year is no different. Melaka United Football Association has embarked on a donation drive to raise funds to settle its 2019 debts, as reported b y Berita Harian . 4. In 2011, several Kuala Lumpur fans initiated a Save KLFA campaign following the association's financial woes. The intention was noble but Kuala Lumpur Football Association (KLFA) failed to capitalise on the momentum. Eight years on, KLFA still believes that  placing a politician as its president  will free the association of monetary issues. 5. Long term plans are alien to most sports organisations in Malaysia as its presidents and office bearers are only interested in making an impact, if any, during their term. 6. However, the guardians of Malaysian football had once impleme...

Can the relevant authorities like FAM or the Football Association of Penang do something to alleviate (V.) Krishnasamy’s financial situation? This was published in The Star's letters page today: https://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/letters/2019/04/19/former-national-footballer-in-need-of-help/ It is nice of Kok Foo Leong to voice concerns about his good friend and former national footballer V. Krishnasamy. That shows compassion and the desire to help a friend - a noble trait that must be applauded. But Mr Kok, the FA of Malaysia (FAM) has provided financial assistance to Krishnasamy not too long ago. Then FAM general-secretary (now president) Datuk Hamidin Amin had presented financial assistance to Krishnasamy on Feb 26, 2018. Read the full report here . In fact, a month earlier (Jan 18, 2018) the National Athletes Welfare Foundation (Yakeb) visited Krishnasamy. Berita Harian had then quoted Yakeb's general manager Zuhairi Abdul Manaf as saying: "Hari ini ...

UPDATE (March 25, 3.15pm): Tunku Ismail Ibrahim resigns as FA of Malaysia president. -- UPDATE (March 17, 9.52am): As of late last night, it's status quo at Wisma FAM. Tunku Ismail Ibrahim remains as president as "no resignation letter was submitted". Insiders say Tunku Ismail was "very disturbed and feels unappreciated following critical comments, especially on social media, about the national team's FIFA ranking despite the many other achievements (as listed in the original post below) throughout his close to one year stint in office". -- UPDATE (March 16, 8.25am) : FA of Malaysia general-secretary Datuk Hamidin Amin said:  "Sudah tentu jika kita membiarkan Tunku Ismail meletak jawatan, kita juga akan kehilangan penaja dan saya sendiri tidak dapat membayangkan siapa yang layak untuk menggantikan tempat baginda sebagai Presiden FAM." Read his full statement here . -- UPDATE (March 16, 10.19am): Another FA...

As published in Malay Mail today By Haresh Deol KUALA LUMPUR  — Asian Football Confederation (AFC) general-secretary Datuk Windsor Paul John said Malaysia will play their Asian Cup qualifying match in Pyongyang, as the government has not imposed a travel ban to North Korea. Responding to claims the FA of Malaysia (FAM) may appeal against the decision to play the June 8 match in the hermit kingdom, Windsor said: “They are free to do so. “I’m not the one making the decision. The committee will decide and FAM must justify their appeal, if they intend to do so that is.” Windsor said it was AFC, and not the Malaysian government, who would assess the security situation in Pyongyang. “We will assess the situation there two weeks before the tournament. The AFC Women’s Asian Cup was held in Pyongyang … we had players and officials from all over the world there. Everything went well.” According to AFC regulations, Windsor said a match could only be played in a neutral venu...

As published in Malay Mail today By Haresh Deol and Wan Noriza Meor Idris mmnews@mmail.com.my KUALA LUMPUR  — The FA of Malaysia (FAM) will “exhaust all options” after it was decided the national team will play North Korea in the 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers in Pyongyang next month. The decision, made by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Monday, sent jitters down the spines of several parties as this will be the nation’s first official visit to the hermit kingdom following a diplomatic row between both countries. China, South Korea and the United States were also at the edge of their seats following threats of nuclear missile tests by the rogue state. FAM general secretary Datuk Hamidin Amin, who was in Bahrain for the annual Fifa Congress, said he would speak to FAM president Tunku Ismail Ibrahim on their next move ahead of the match. “We are concerned. The first thing I’ll do when I get back is to meet Tunku Ismail and get his views. We will exhaust all optio...

As published in Sunday Mail By Haresh Deol haresh@mmail.com.my PETALING JAYA — The FA of Malaysia (FAM) were “advised” by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to come down hard on Kuala Lumpur Premier League players in 2013 A ranking MACC officer said it was unfortunate the national body did not follow through with their recommendations and instead only handed life bans to five KL players — Fadhullah Yunsifar, Phoo Kai Lun, Khairul Anuar Shafie, Jeremy Danker and Hafizi Roslee. Seventeen others in the team, including goalkeeper Azizon Abdul Kadir, who pleaded guilty were slapped with a RM5,000 fine each. Azizon went on to play for the national team. “We made our recommendations to FAM to ensure they punished the players. The decision was to serve as a stern warning to the other players,” said the officer. “Instead, 17 players were handed mere fines. That’s not right, not right at all.” He was baffled how goalkeeper Azizon, who admitted to match-f...

As published in Malay Mail today By Haresh Deol haresh@mmail.com.my KUALA LUMPUR — The government will not legalise sports betting despite claims the match-fixing threat has moved from Singapore to Malaysia. Finance Minister II Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani said regulating sports betting would not ensure the long-standing menace would be eliminated. “As far as the government is concerned, we are not going to approve sports betting. Simply put, it’s not a sector we’re looking into,” he said. “What assurance do we have that match-fixing will be eradicated if sports betting is legalised? Singapore legalised sports betting, yet they also had syndicates operating illegally. “We can’t be giving out licences just because there is a demand in the black market. That will not solve the problem.” Johari said there were no records or data to show the amount of “illegal outflow” of the ringgit due to sports betting and that figures bandied around were  merely estimates...

As featured in Malay Mail Afternoon E-Paper today By Haresh Deol haresh@mmail.com.my FIRST they let their country down. Now, they turn their backs on the Jalur Gemilang. It appears the spat between Johor Darul Ta'zim and the FA of Malaysia (FAM) has escalated to a new level. Captain Safiq Rahim and Aidil Zafuan Abdul Radzak quit Harimau Malaysia hours apart yesterday through statements posted on their club (Johor Southern Tigers) Facebook page yesterday. And more are expected to abandon the sinking ship as the national team continues to produce unconvincing results since the 10-0 thrashing by United Arab Emirates during the World Cup qualifying match last year. National coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee was tongue tied when asked to comment about the resignations yesterday. But he is bracing for more to leave. Insiders say more JDT players are expected to discard the national colours, leaving Kim Swee in a lurch as he prepares the team for the Asean Football Federation Cu...

As published in Mailsport today 'Step in wrong direction' By Haresh Deol haresh@mmail.com.my KUALA LUMPUR — FA of Malaysia’s (FAM) decision to lift the ban of former footballers caught match-fixing in the 1990s has sparked a heated debate among observers and officials. While some stressed the players should be given a second chance, others said the group destroyed M-League and killed Malaysian football. “Has it ever recovered? The ramifications are still being felt today not just in Malaysia but regionally and many ways internationally,” said International Centre for Sport Security Sport Integrity Director Chris Eaton. “What happened in Malaysia 22 years ago set a negative tone in regional football and exposed the methods of criminals. But actions, or more accurately inaction, that contained official responses merely to players, allowed a criminal match-fixing and betting fraud trend from Malaysia to improve its methods and to connect...