Paranoid over image

This appeared in The Malay Mail yesterday.


Comment by Haresh Deol

YOU are cruising on your reliable 1995 Vulcan 800A, adhering to the 80kmh speed  limit on the North South Expressway.

You then notice a roadblock up ahead, just before the Tapah R&R (rest and revive), and you slow down.

A cop pulls you over and you wonder what you did wrong. The handlebars are in accordance with the law, the noise from your exhaust is nothing compared to a Harley Davidson Fat Boy fitted with Vans & Hines pipes and you were clocking 5kmh short of the speed limit.

You were apparently caught speeding but you strongly felt otherwise. You keep quite, nevertheless.

After waiting in the hot sun, the cop walks over and tells you that you were riding within the speed limit and advises you to "be careful" in the future.

You leave quickly, smiling but thinking - what just happened?

Perhaps national coach Datuk K.Rajagobal (pic) felt the same too when he was hauled up by the FA of Malaysia (FAM) disciplinary committee.

The national coach was quoted by several local dailies (not The Malay Mail) as saying local talents are lacking in skills due to the influx of foreigners after Malaysia lost 4-1 to Saudi Arabia in a friendly match last month.

Ironically, the same committee, had on Wednesday, decided that Rajagobal was "misquoted" based on an audio recording during the post-match interview. As such, Rajagobal was cleared of any charge and left Wisma FAM smiling.

Why the drama of wanting to penalise Rajagobal? So much drama that conspiracy theorists believed certain individuals were eager to boot the former international from the hot seat.

At least now, Rajagobal will be able to focus on the remaining matches of the Asian Cup qualifiers. The Harimau Malaya will play Bahrain on Oct 15 (home) and Nov 15 (away) before hosting Qatar on Nov 19. They will then play Yemen on March 5 next year.

It was an unnecessary headache but it happened.

FAM have been very consistent in penalising those, including the likes of former national coach B.Satianathan, former Felda United coach Reduan Abdullah and Kelantan FA president Tan Sri Annuar Musa, for speaking against the national body.

Perhaps the wise folks in FAM believe "justice must not only be done but seen to be done" (R v Sussex Justice, ex parte McCarthy).

But it also seems to suggest FAM are overly paranoid about the image they project rather than the development of Malaysian football.

If only more emphasis was given to the sport - at least Malaysian football will be scoring on the backpages of the local dailies for the right reasons.

HD says: Now for some Black Sabbath - let's start with Paranoid!