Aiman Nazirmuddin
Football Tribe Malaysia
The owner of the Johor Darul Ta’zim football club, Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, or better known by supporters as Tunku Mahkota Johor, hit out at journalists for dishonest reporting.
This statement came in response to an article entitled ‘Jenalty Make JDT Special’ by Syafiq Aznan, which reported that JDT has been awarded four penalty kicks in their last four Super League matches.
As such, Tunku Ismail reminded all journalists to report according to facts, not emotions, where it should also be followed by fair and equitable reporting.
“Journalists should write based on facts, not emotions.” Tunku Mahkota Johor said in the official website of the Johor Southern Tigers. “They have to be fair and treat teams equally, not write like a fan of a rival team. Unfortunately, this is not the case for some in Malaysia.”
He also questioned the writer’s level of understanding of the game, by asking: “does the writer not understand football to be unable to differentiate between right and wrong decisions by match officials?”
So far in four matches, JDT only failed to score from the spot when they met Terengganu. They started getting penalties when they met Kuala Lumpur, Terengganu FC and most recently Melaka United.
However, the Johor Darul Ta’zim owner defended the referee’s actions because, for him, they were the ones who most understand the rules of football.
“I admitted that one of the penalties against Terengganu was perhaps a soft one, but those that understand football regulations will concur that there is little doubt in the other penalties given to JDT,” he said. “How is it ‘dihadiahkan’ (gifted) a penalty when a team is fouled against?”