The football crisis in our country is becoming worse. The latest FIFA ranking sees Malaysia falling two notches down to 161. The fans have been crying foul and yet there are parties who feel that the ranking is not important. Read here and here
There were also outbursts regarding the governing body's decision to sack the acting manager of the national team, Dato Soh Chin Aun and also the coach, Sathianathan. However the manager KJ escaped action though he was willing to take the blame. Read here and here.
However, the biggest surprise comes from the alleged mismanagement of FAM's referee department. The department has been accused of cronyism. Read here .
Datuk Soh Chin Aun, a local legend and former captain of the national team, who is the vice-chairman of the referee board, has denied any knowledge of these allegations. His reactions were also not well received by certain quarters.
The standard of refereeing is being questioned as never before and even blamed for the poor performance of the national team.There were wild accusations that the disharmony in the department has spread to other departments causing the ranking to fall. How much more ridiculous could one be?
Firstly lets get something straight, I think the issue here is not the standard of refereeing but the standard of our national team. Over the years no matter who the chairman was, be it from the time of Tan Sri right up till the late Nazri, Malaysia never failed to produce referees of top quality, From the tenure of Dato George Joseph, Rodzali and now Colonel, as the HOD, FAM continued to be successful in this respect.
Our referees were highly sought after to officiate not only in Asia but also in other parts of the world. Names like Cikgu Zainal, Katheravale,George Joseph, Koh Guan Kiat, Othman Omar, Ismail Yaacob, Stephen Ovinis, Subramaniam Nathan, Col. Kamaruddin, Nasarudin Shariff, Nazri Abdullah, Nik Ahmad, Selearajan, , Kamaruddin Md Diah, Jamil Zakaria, Amir Sharifudin Wong, Che Mud, Nadarajan, VKS Sinaya, Kassim, and lots more were regulars in the international stage. All of these men somehow played a part, in one way or another in developing my career as a referee. I am indebted to them all. I idolized them.
Capt Halim and Mat Lazim stamped our mark in the world cup. We are also not too far away today and our men like Krishnan , Sabri, Saadon , and the younger guys are also earning praise, and even our women referees have performed at international levels. Our challenge is being led by none other than Subkhidin.
The late Nazri Abdullah served as an instructor for referees in the last world cup and was preparing the next batch for the coming one. Cikgu Amir is serving in the Maldives developing the referees there.
You see, you can’t say the same about our national team, the same few names keep coming up, Ghani Minhat, Soh Chin Aun, Santokh , the late Mokhtar and Arumugam, these are but a few. Where are the present batch. No denying that we did have a formidable team during Towkay’s time. Maybe Shebby, who probably found better fame and fortune in broadcasting. But where are the present batch. Are they anywhere near the world cup? Our referees have been there and Insyallah will be there again and again.
You see, the referee department has been continuously successful. We are moving closer and closer to the world cup . On the contrary, the national team continues to drift further away. To say that the disharmony in the dept has spread into other departments and caused the ranking to drop is grossly unfair and malicious.
To my brother referees, remember my 'pantun':
Langkah masuk rimau di dada
Silap langkah rimau dibedil
Berani, tegas, cergas, adil, waspada
Kalimah Keramat Kami Pengadil
United we stand, divided we fall
FOR THE GOOD OF THE GAME
1 comment:
Cikgu, you have to stop this habit of linking my blog to yours lest that people accuse us of being in cahoots! Hahahahahahaha! Well in some ways I do agree with you and on the other hand, it is sad that we have to cling on to memories of yore. I doubt it if your students like Arun and Sharafi have ever heard of Ghani Minhat or Arthur Koh. Even today's generation do not know who Mokhtar Dahari was. I think it is a sad testament to the fact that we are nowhere near the top even at Asean level. Regarding the referees, my concern is that the department should be run in a very transparent manner. If the previous department heads were guilty of abusing their position and favouring their friends, that does not give the present HOD the right to repeat their indiscretion!
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