JOHOR BARU: The Johor government has called for a football safety framework, which is being developed by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), to be expedited to ensure future tournaments meet safety requirements.
State education and information committee chairman Dr Muhammad Naqib Md Ghazali said the framework, jointly developed by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, should be introduced soon to establish safety measures for football tournaments, including private events.
“Safety regulations need to be taken into account from all angles, including the provision of paramedics throughout the tournament.
“We welcome the framework being developed and hope it can be expedited so that incidents like the recent death of a pupil during a football tournament can be prevented,” he said after visiting the victim’s family in Pasir Gudang on Thursday (July 23).
Dr Muhammad Naqib said the tournament was not organised by the victim’s school, the district education office or the state Education Department.
“However, the state government is still compelled to come forward, first to offer our condolences to the family and secondly to call on all relevant agencies, including FAM and the related experts to develop a system to improve the process and prevent such incidents from recurring.
“In sporting events, the impact or severity of injuries may be different compared with playing casually. That is why a good framework is needed to ensure more effective preventive measures,” he said.
He added that the safety framework should eventually cover not only football but other sports, particularly high-impact sports such as rugby, where participants could suffer head injuries.
On July 11, the 12-year-old victim - a Year Six pupil from SK Taman Rinting 2 - reportedly collapsed while playing in the tournament and was taken to a private hospital in Bandar Dato’ Onn for emergency treatment.
Johor Baru South OCPD Asst Comm Azrul Hisham Mohd Shaffei said medical officers later confirmed the boy had died.
He said a post-mortem examination found no suspicious injuries or bruises.
