UAE and Malaysia friendly turns ugly
dubai — It was supposed to be a friendly but it was anything but that. A match between hosts Malaysia and the UAE Olympic team (Under-23) ended in a freefor-all brawl before the situation was brought under control by local police.
The ugly incident happened in the third minute of four minutes of stoppage time with Malaysia leading 2-0 at the Shah Alam Stadium in Malaysia on Friday. Malaysia media reported that the UAE’s Mohamed Khalfan Al Harasi kicked a Malaysian player after which all hell broke loose.
Players from both sides joined in skirmish, throwing punches and kicks at each other. The referee Suhaizi Shukri tried desperately to control the situation but the matter had got out of hand by then.
The fracas, which began in the middle of the pitch, spilled onto the technical area and even though some of the UAE players and officials tried to diffuse the situation, it spiralled out of control with a few UAE officials and the bench of both sides getting involved in the fight.
The local police personnel present at the Stadium, had a tough time in restoring order before things finally calmed down and the players were taken off the pitch and onto the players’ tunnel.
The videos of the fight was circulating on social media on Friday.
The friendly was part of a warmup in the run up to the Asian Games in Indonesia. Safawi Rasid gave Malaysia the lead on 27 minutes after which Mohammad Akhyar Abdul Rashid added the second on 64 minutes.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) was yet to react on the confrontation but there could be some action taken against both the sides, either by the AFC or the Football Associations of both the countries.
The UAE are placed in Group C along with China, Timor Leste and Syria after a redraw following Iraq’s withdrawal.
The team, coached by Maciej Skorza, were initially placed in Group E along with Korea Republic, Kyrgyz Republic, Malaysia, Bahrain after a first redraw saw them being left out along with Palestine. The UAE play Syria in their Group C opener on August 14.