Under the new leadership of the Crown Prince of Johor, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) is expected to take strong measures against dishonest or incompetent referees. The governing football body are also considering to impose life bans on officials caught guilty of corruption.
“I have the instructed the FAM integrity committee and Football Referees Association to investigate referees and poorly officiated matches,” said Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim via a post on FAM official Facebook page.
“I want a detailed investigation to be done and a decision to be made this week. If any individual is found conducting poor matches, punishment will be issued and the referee will be rested. If he is found guilty of corruption, the referee will need to be banned for life.”
Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim’s statement comes after Kedah players protested against the referee’s decisions in their 5-0 loss to T-Team FC in the Malaysia Super League.
Defender Rizal Ghazali was sent off for retaliating against a rash challenge from Fakhrurazi Musa.
Kedah captain Baddrol Bakhtiar and his teammates, however, strongly believed the official should have also sent off Fakhrurazi.
Last month, the newly-appointed FA president announced that FAM will handpick 20 officials for full-time positions, which will require them to undergo a special training course.