The Malaysia-Saudi football fiasco is symptomatic of everything that is wrong with Malaysia

Umar Mukhtar

Life-endangering acts of hooliganism at a public arena of sports and entertainment? That’s a no-no, no talk, no justification and no sense. Those acts were wrong and not to be condoned. But it is not that simple to just sweep the incident under the carpet after the perfunctory punishments are meted out to those who are willing.

It is not an exaggeration to liken what had happened to the increasing underlying paralysis suffered by helpless Malaysians in their everyday lives. The Football Association of Malaysia is an archaic organistation, run by old school remnants of the Tunku Abdul Rahman days, as their private fraternity of incestous patronage and ego-tripping.

Whilst having to line up for tickets is already unheard of in other developed countries, Malaysian football fans bake in the sun for hours in the morning of game-days, lucky to get to buy a couple of tickets. Where did the hundred of thousands of tickets go to? How nice to be football officials, and feel important to able to dispense tickets to relatives and friends!

That evening you see thousands of ticket scalpers selling blackmarket tickets under the noses of policemen who think they are there just for crowd-control. Maybe there then you have your answer. Electronic transactions and ticket-franchises don’t allow for this ‘fringe benefits’ to officials. So like sheep, Malaysians line up or be scalped. One feeds the other.

I can only bitch from the perspective of a football spectator. The ‘Ultras Malaya’, the organised activistic fan group whose interests in the game includes the country’s football development, competitiveness and administration, probably bears grudges against these football officials that weigh a ton. Everything has gone south for decades and their screams ignored. And do we blame? The Ultras, for their obvious indiscretions, and not the officials.

So why don’t football fans just changed these old farts? That’s a tough call when the deck is stacked against you. Just as in Malaysian politics, the voters and the fans should be the ones that really matter. But the practical structure of the political parties and organisations encourage in-breeding, patronage and corruption by the elites such that the masses are actually helpless and disenfranchised.

So they rebelled in the only way they can. It’s the easiest form of protest against stubborn deaf ears. Let not that kind of frustration spread to the political arena. But the parallels are there if you choose to see. Just because these actions are extreme for our society, and must not be tolerated, it does not negate their legitimate right to be heard and to be activistic.

What are these officials thinking of? You see them moving around with hangers-on and cronies, and they cling on to positions as if they and nobody else can attempt a better job, and as if their lives depend on this God-given birthright. So the decay continues, sliding downwards like the Ringgit and the corruption and the transparency indexes.

What about the people’s representative called the Minister of Sports? Ah, his comments were like sweet nothings of a frustrated lover, and his demeanour was like trying to disappear and be swallowed by the floor. We know how he feels after his pre-cabinet stint with FAM.  He can’t adopt a ‘take-charge’ stance. He is handicapped. He is a Malaysian politician.