REFS MUST BE ‘ON THE BALL’
Sivasundaram tells match officials to be mentally ready amid fans’ criticism
M-LEAGUE referees ought to know that times have changed — their every call on the field will come under public scrutiny. And more than ever, they get called out by fans.
One controversial decision, and next they find themselves condemned in Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
FAM referees committee chairman Datuk S. Sivasundaram, in a meeting with his match officials recently, told them football has evolved to a point that referees are now under more public scrutiny on social media than before.
Sivasundaram said virulent comments about match officials in social media were not so pervasive years ago, but now things go viral instantly.
He stressed that referees got to be “on the ball” when they officiate M-League matches.
Sivasundaram pointed out that referees are important decision makers as without the men in black, there is no football.
“Their decisions are important because it is final and in accordance with Fifa law of the game. So, I advise them to be mentally ready for every game. FAM do not want to see issues on the field.”
Of late, M-League referees have been criticised by netizens for their “poor” judgments. And two referees were suspended and demoted by FAM in the past two months.
Sivasundaram said FAM will keep track of the performances of the referees. “We will support the referees but they must make the right decisions at the right time and don’t fumble on them because clubs are spending millions of ringgit on their teams.
“One wrong decision could see clubs losing league points, which we don’t encourage. We don’t like to punish but when forced, we will do it in compliance with Fifa rules.
“So, prove yourselves. We will be monitoring,” he added.
In 2018, the Malaysian Football League planned to set up an investment fund to help Malaysian referees turn professional.
The following year, a company, known as Professional Match Officials Malaysia (PMOM) was created with the goal of helping the development of Malaysian match officials, similar to Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) in London.
However, due to Covid-19, the project was put on hold. It is set to resume this year with two referees to be selected for the pilot programme.
“On Tuesday, I met with 10 professional referee candidates. I advised them accordingly and told them they will be under scrutiny. We are selecting only two of the 10 because we want to see how it will work.”
Sivasundaram said local referees do have the quality to officiate matches but they need to improve on their decision making.
He reminded them to check with the assistant referees if they are unsure of incidents on the field.