JITRA, Nov 4 — The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and the Malaysian Football League (MFL) have been urged to consider the request of many teams that every football final match should be presided by a referee from abroad.
Kedah Football Association (KFA) president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir said as it carried out during the FA Cup final in July, the same approach should have been adopted for the Malaysia Cup final at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Saturday.
“I understand according to regulations, a referee who attended to a semi-final match could not be the referee for the final game.
“We are not doubting the referee in the final but the measure is for the future, ideally foreign referees should be engaged to avoid doubts about refereeing in the final.
Asked whether KFA made a protest on the referee before the Malaysia Cup final between Kedah and Johor Darul Takzim (JDT), Mukhriz said they received information on the matter late.
He said the credibility of a referee from another country would not be disputed as in the FA Cup final which saw Kedah beat Perak 1-0 and there was no issue on refereeing that night.
Meanwhile, Mukhriz said KFA was not too disappointed despite Kedah losing 0-3 to JDT and failed to bag the trophy as they were proud to be runners-up.
“It is not easy being runners-up as the path to the final was just as challenging and therefore I would like to congratulate the Red Eagles for coming thus far,” he said.
He said KFA was very grateful to Kedah supporters and the association would also be conducting a post-mortem and deliberate the future direction of the team for 2020. — Bernama
