FAM waiting for official letter from FIFA before taking further action

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) is still waiting for an official letter from FIFA on the penalty imposed on the national football governing body over the serious disturbances at the Shah Alam Stadium on Sept 8, before it takes any further action, said its deputy president Datuk Seri Afandi Hamzah.

He said FAM only found out about the decision of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee via its official website on the penalty over the disturbances by the home supporters during the 2018 World Cup qualifying match between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

"We also obtained the details from FIFA's website, so we will get the details of the decision and scrutinise them before deciding to appeal or otherwise," he said when contacted by Bernama.

FIFA has imposed a fine of 40,000 Swiss francs (about RM180,000), ordered one match by Malaysia be played without spectators and gave Saudi Arabia a 3-0 win because of the serious crowd disturbances at the stadium on that day.

The match, which also served as a qualifying match or the 2019 Asia Cup, encountered serious problems from the spectators, forcing it to be stopped in the 88th minute by referee Liu Kwok Man of Hong Kong.

Some supporters, believed to be from the 'Ultras Malaya' group, acted wildly by burning flares and throwing rocket fire crackers onto the pitch and endangered the players and other supporters, when Saudi Arabia were ahead 2-1.

Following the decision, Malaysia will have to host the match against United Arab Emirates in an empty stadium on Nov 17.

Asked to comment on the fine, Afandi said it was too early to make any statement on the penalty imposed on the association.

"Too early to make any comments. I must scrutinise the decision. We will discuss the decision before making any move," he added.