IF passion alone could make champions, Malaysia would have been a world football power many times over by now. And the fervour couldn’t have been more glaring than that seen over the past week — first the flaming riots in Kuala Terengganu when the home team lost, followed by a threat by the state to pull out of national competitions in the future. Then a 90,000 turnout at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil, some arriving 16 hours early and camping overnight outside, to witness the FA Cup final between Kelantan and LionsXII plus five or six million more who watched the game live on television.
It was a heady mix of emotion and coupled with other national issues such as the contrasting principles by certain hypocritical quarters over the handling of the influx of Rohingya refugees, it provided for yet another week of spiky ironies that have come to bite us all.
This is the nth number of time I am saying that the football passion here is mind-boggling. But I am saying it again, this time even putting the whole scenario as the world’s greatest mismatch because despite all the forceful sentiments, Malaysia is worse than B-grade among footballing nations in the world, having been ranked in the same plane alongside countries such as Bhutan, Bangladesh and Bahamas. It should be B the other way around, like Brazil and Belgium.
What baloney. In Kuala Terengganu last week, rioting fans wreaked havoc after the home side were denied a late goal in the FA Cup semifinal against LionsXII of Singapore. The referee’s decision, which cost them a place in the final, led to a fiery protest with an ambulance set ablaze, flares lit and stadium seats ripped. The controversy led Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman and the Terengganu Football Association to threaten to pull the state team out of national competitions in future. And that underlines the intensity of the fanaticism, more so since it was not the first time a threat to pull out was made.
Last year, a similar explosive situation caused the then menteri besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said to ask the Terangganu-based T-Team to quit the national competition after a couple of its players were allegedly assaulted in the Larkin Stadium tunnel during the interval of an FA Cup match against JDT in Johor Baru. JDT were subsequently fined RM30,000 for failing to provide enough security during the game. Still it left Ahmad angry as no action was taken on the assault.
The fact that states or teams can threaten to withdraw from competitions following altercations shows there is sizzling passion all round which is not newfound but building up for a long time.
Sarawak was sucked into that position at the height of its Malaysia Cup football craze about 30 years ago. In 1988, new coach Awang Mahyan Awang Mohamad introduced the slogan “Ngap Sayot” and brought the team to its first Malaysia Cup semi-final, defeating several teams deemed to be stronger and the following year Sarawak appeared to be on course to make their first final in the competition, but a referee’s deemed misjudgement during their quarter-final match in Kuala Lumpur saw them eliminated at that stage. The incident not only led Sarawak to withdraw its affiliation from the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) for a short spell but even put a dent on national integration as some people went to the extent of demanding that the state pull out of Malaysia.
The point I’m trying to make is this: Something must be very wrong somewhere if with that kind of passion it is still not enough to fuel up the standard of play on the pitch and lift Malaysia out of the doldrums. We have good football infrastructure with huge stadiums all around the country, we have a big fan base, we have a well-run professional league, we have good TV coverage, we have willing corporate sponsors and some of the players make more money than doctors do. So, what more is needed? Is it the food they eat? And this is where FAM need to do more to search and discover. Where else is Malaysia lacking?
Otherwise there will be no end to cynicism like on Saturday night when, while watching the live telecast of the cup final, SKI, a dear friend, sent this message through the social media: “It’s a wonder that people are willing to pay to see such crap.”
The writer, an award-winning columnist, is a member of the National Sports Advisory Panel