FAM decision baffles Khairy

KUALA LUMPUR: Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has questioned the decision of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to give host rights to the FA of Pahang (PBNP) for the postponed FA CUP semi-final second leg match between Pahang and Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil here today.

He said this was because PBNP had failed to provide adequate security at the Darul Makmur Stadium in Kuantan on Tuesday which led to crowd trouble and forced the match to be played at a neutral venue instead.

“Ticket revenue for Pahang should not exceed the Darul Makmur Stadium’s capacity which is 10,000 whereas the National Stadium can accommodate 80,000 spectators.

“Pahang do not qualify to collect revenue for more than 10,000 tickets because they have been penalised by the FAM over what happened on Tuesday but FAM are acting in favour of them,” he told reporters after making a visit to the National Sports Council (NSC) complex in Bukit Jalil together with his deputy Datuk M Saravanan, here yesterday.

The hosts usually get the bigger share of the gate collection.

Khairy also said FAM had “gone easy” on PBNP over the ugly incidents at the Darul Makmur Stadium on Tuesday.

FAM’s disciplinary committee fined PBNP RM100,000 while the FA of Johor (PBNJ) RM20,000 over the incidents.

“We cannot understand why the stadium was filled to over capacity when ticket sales cannot exceed capacity,” he said.

He said this should never have happened and that FAM needed to act fast to find the answers as it had tarnished the image of Malaysian football.

“I as the Youth and Sports Minister am very disappointed that PBNP failed to carry out their responsibility and duties as hosts,” he said.

Khairy also urged FAM to come down hard on the match commissioner (of Tuesday’s match) for failing to be in control of all aspects of it including ticket sales. — Bernama