KUALA LUMPUR, April 25 — The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) will always consider the views (of all parties) and follow the letter of the law in meting out punishment or when making any important decisions in order to preserve the harmony in the local football scene.
FAM secretary-general Stuart Ramalingam said the national governing body would always act as a “middleman” and that everything is done with transparency, including decisions involving the quality of refereeing or player behaviour.
He said any punishment as well as decisions made are done without pressure from any parties, including netizens who simply voice their opinions on the social media and, thus, paint a negative perception of FAM.
“If we submit to the pressure from netizens, then we will have to take action after every match. Everything that is reported by the FAM and the actions taken against the referees or players are explained clearly… nothing is hidden.
“FAM’s job is to remain unbiased in any situation. But there are decisions that are made internally, which are still in accordance with the laws of the game,” he said when met recently.
For the record, during the current Malaysia League (M-League) campaign, two referees were suspended for two weeks while another was ordered to undergo performance improvement programme.
Meanwhile, three players - Ahmad Khairil Anuar Ahmad Zamri (Petaling Jaya City FC), Hein Htet Aung (Selangor FC 2) and Ignacio Insa Bohigues (JDT) - were suspended for two matches for various offences while Kelantan FC’s Jack Raymond Hindle and Melaka United’s Alex Dos Santos escaped with a stern warning.
This season, the quality of local refereeing has again become the focus of attention while there have also been incidents of local and import players pushing or shoving referees — Bernama
