Foul!

As published in Mailsport today By Haresh Deol haresh@mmail.com.my KUALA LUMPUR — Its anti-hooliganism campaign has clearly failed as the FA of Malaysia (FAM) wants to introduce tough penalties including forcing teams to play in empty stadiums to combat rioting on the stands. FAM general secretary Datuk Hamidin Amin said the Kuala Terengganu incident last Saturday had dented efforts to educate supporters about respect and sportsmanship and it was high time tough decisions were made. Fans went wild at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium as they torched an ambulance and destroyed a police vehicle after referee Amirul Izwan Yaacob disallowed a goal by the home team in the FA Cup return leg semifinal, allowing LionsXII to play Kelantan in Saturday’s final. “We are tired of talking and must make a stand now. We cannot tolerate violence and must put an end to this,” said Hamidin. “There are provisions for the disciplinary committee to instruct teams to play in empty st...

Samada pasukan-pasukan masih belum sempat menyesuaikan diri dengan tempoh 'rehat' yang lama, dah terlebih makan ketupat dan rendang atau....mungkin terlalu banyak perhatian diberikan kepada pasukan-pasukan 'gergasi' sehingga kita lupa kemampuan sebenar pasukan-pasukan yang lain. Inilah realiti Piala Malaysia. Tidak seperti Liga Super mahupun Premier, Piala Malaysia mempunyai cabaran yang tersendiri dan pasukan-pasukan yang cemerlang di liga masing-masing tidak semestinya akan mampu beraksi sedemikian di pertandingan ini. Kelantan, Selangor and LionsXII sudah tentu berduka cita dengan perlawanan pembuka tirai masing-masing. Kelantan kalah 2-0 kepada Terengganu, Selangor ditewaskan 2-1 oleh Sarawak manakala pasukan seberang Tambak hanya sekadar seri 0-0 dengan Johor FC. Namun Kelantan masih dikatakan pasukan 'pilihan' untuk digelar juara Piala Malaysia tahun ini. Jika ia menjadi kenyataan, maka ia boleh dikatakan sebagai "bitter sweet victory" ba...

Singapore's LionsXII thrashed Sabah 9-0 in a Super League match last night. Is there so much of difference in the standard of play among the Super League teams? Are the Singaporeans that strong? Is Sabah that weak? I didn't watch the match so I rather not comment. But to lose 9-0? You tell me what is wrong with that scoreline. Read here and here for the match reports. Pic: ST PHOTO LIM SIN THAI HD says: .....

UPDATE May 26 (9.25am): Singapore's The New Paper talks about 'Paul', 'John' and four nabbed for attempt to fix LionsXII match. Not two but three Malaysians are apparently involved. Read the article here . ------- When former Fifa head of security Chris Eaton was in Kuala Lumpur last year, the FA of Malaysia (FAM) got him to say no official was involved in the Malaysia-Zimbabwe friendly matches fiasco. Then when Eaton was reported to have said Malaysian officials were involved by the Singaporean Media, again FAM tried to play it down. To show that they are committed in their crime against match-fixing, FAM set up a Coordination and Investigation Unit headed by former police officer Osman Bakar. So what support Osman has been receiving to play his role effectively? He is no longer a cop and is in no position to investigate such matters. How many players or officials have been arrested or charged since the setting up of the unit? The NST had today repo...