FAM urge action after dog chant towards national team

PETALING JAYA: Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) are unhappy with the poor behaviour of Indonesian fans and want actions to be taken against them.

The Indonesian spectators have chanted “Malaysia itu anjing” (Malaysia are dogs) during the national teams’ 2-1 loss to Thailand in the AFF U-16 Championship Group B match in Surabaya on Monday.

FAM have sent a letter of protest to the Asean Football Federation (AFF) and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Earlier, former FAM president Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim had slammed the action of the Indonesian fans in the Johor Southern Tigers’ Facebook page and urged the FAM to take action.

FAM secretary-general Stuart Ramalingam in a statement yesterday said the Indonesian fans went overboard with their insult and hoped that action would be taken to avoid it being repeated during the team’s next match against Brunei on Friday.

“I agree with Tunku Ismail. The Indonesian fans went to the extreme this time, it was a big insult to the name of Malaysia,” said Stuart.

“We immediately send a letter of protest to the AFF and the AFC so that both parties can take the necessary actions to make sure the same thing will not happen at the same venue.”

To make sure the safety of the team is assured, the FAM have decided to send executive committee member ACP Mohd Dali Wahid to Surabaya tomorrow.

“He is a high ranking police official and he will evaluate the safety measures implemented by the host nation and organisers,” said Stuart.

“FAM will not hesitate to take drastic actions in the future if we find the host nation and organisers are taking this issue lightly.”

Stuart also hoped that the AFF and the AFC would be strict in handling this case.

Previously, Malaysia were fined US$30,000 (RM121,702) after Malaysian fans sang defamatory chants towards Brunei and Singapore during the men’s football matches in the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games.