KUALA LUMPUR: The FA of Malaysia is not ruling out appealing the 50,000 Swiss Francs (RM209,952) fine imposed by FIFA following the ugly incidents that broke out during the World Cup 2022/Asia Cup 2023 qualifying match between Malaysia and Indonesia at the National Stadium, Bukit Jalil here on Nov 19.
FAM secretary-general Stuart Ramalingam said the national football governing body received notification on the fine last week and had sent a letter to FIFA asking for feedback on details of the offences.
“We will pay the fine, however, we are asking FIFA to provide information on the offences in more detail. If there is need to appeal, we will do so but will wait for FIFA’s reply,” he told Bernama.
The match was marred by fans from both sides hurling flares and mineral water bottles at each other. Forty-one fans, 14 of them Indonesians were reported to have been detained by the police after the match.
Malaysia won the match 2-0.
A local English daily recently reported that FIFA had decided to fine FAM 50,000 Swiss Francs after finding violations against Articles 16 and 26 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.
Prior to this, FIFA was reported as having issued a warning to FAM following crowd disturbances during the World Cup 2022/ Asia Cup 2023 qualifying match between Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the same venue on Sept 10.
The world football governing body also issued another warning to FAM after Harimau Malaya head coach Tan Cheng Hoe skipped the post-match press conference following the World Cup 2022/Asia Cup 2023 qualifying match between Malaysia and Vietnam in Hanoi on Oct 10, an offence under Article 26 of the Code (Failure to comply with media obligations).
Malaysia lost 1-2 to UAE and 0-1 to Vietnam. - Bernama
