JOHOR BAHRU, May 17 — Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has urged the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to focus on the quality of its refereeing to avoid unwanted incidents or chaos in stadiums.
He said the issue was identified as one of the main causes of dissatisfaction and unhappiness among football fans and spectators.
“The recent incident involving Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT II) manager and a referee was a good lesson. If there is video evidence on aspects of the quality of refereeing, the FAM should be fair and take appropriate action especially if the referee in question has made a mistake,” he said after attending a Sembang Santai (Leisure Chat) on “GST & Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA): Roles and Responsibilities of Youth in the Economic Development” at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia here yesterday.
“The services of any referee who makes a mistake while carrying out their duties should be suspended pending an overall action by FAM on the issue of refereeing,” Khairy said.
He said there was a need for close cooperation with the police to avoid spectator violence in stadium.
Meanwhile, he said the issue on the resignation of national hockey chief coach Muhammad Dhaarma Raj Abdullah was over.
“The Malaysian Hockey Confederation has contacted Dhaarma on the adjustment of original contract including on salary and he has agreed to it,” he said.
Dhaarma was reported earlier that he was prepared to relinquish his post but had given no reason. — Bernama
