Let the Malaysia Games begin

MFL chairman concerned over failure to ‘control’ matches

MALAYSIA Football League (MFL) chairman Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim has questioned the competency of local referees, whom he deems as weak compared to other nations.

The Johor Crown Prince, who is known as TMJ, believes that the fight that broke out in Monday’s match between Johor and Terengganu in the Malaysia Games at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris in Tanjung Malim, could have been avoided if the referee had been firm.

Tunku Ismail added that the incident was a repeat of what happened during the national Under23 squad’s match against United Arab Emirates at Shah Alam Stadium last month, which also saw tempers flaring after the local referee failed to control the game. Malaysia won 2-0.

“I do not like to see things like this happening. This should not be encouraged by either party,” said Tunku Ismail in a reply to a fan on his Twitter account yesterday.

“I also feel that the referee failed to control the game well. Same as the Malaysia U-23 match against UAE last month where the referee could not control the game.”

The Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) owner urged the FAM referees committee to improve the quality of local referees.

“It (weak refereeing) has happened many times, even in the Super League.

“The AFC Cup and AFC Champions League matches, for example, are run very smoothly.

“The standard of refereeing in our country needs to be improved.”

JDT technical director Alistair Edwards had earlier criticised the quality of refereeing at the Malaysia Games, and asked FAM to look into the issue.

Johor lost 2-1 to Terengganu, which saw their Malaysia Games campaign come to an end after losing two matches in a row.