FAM wants referees to follow procedures when questioned by MACC

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) today issued a directive to national referees to follow procedures set by the governing body when investigated by the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) after officiating matches.

FAM Referees Committee Chairman Datuk Astaman Abdul Aziz said referees must take down the name and telephone number of MACC officers and accompanied by a witness to avoid any attempts by bogus officers to seize the opportunity to fool the authorities.

"I hope with the new procedure, the embarrassing incident at the Sultan Muhammad IV Stadium in Kota Bharu whereby the match official for the Kelantan versus Johor Darul Takzim FC match was questioned by an unknown MACC officer on Jan 15, would not be repeated," he told Bernama when contacted Wednesday.

During the incident on Jan 15, a 'bogus' MACC officer had entered the referees dressing room at the stadium about 10 minutes after the match had ended and recorded a statement from the match official from Terengganu, for about 20 minutes.

However, in a report yesterday, FAM secretary-general Datuk Azzuddin Ahmad had said that a high ranking MACC officer from the headquarters had denied any MACC officer was commissioned to record statements from a referee.

Astaman said based on FIFA's procedures, referees or match officials cannot be disturbed for at least 25 minutes after the match has ended and the room must be locked.

"I hope the embarrassing situation in Kota Baharu will not happen again. I hope it will serve as a lesson for referees to be extra cautious," he said.

Astaman said he had already submitted a report of the incident to the FAM working committee.