Kedah coach told to leave country or wife will be killed
BY LOGANATH VELLOOPENANG: Even before the outcome of Kedah's relegation battle is known, football in the state plunged to an all-time low when it was revealed that coach Mirandinha received a death threat from a disgruntled fan.
The Brazilian, who has been on the receiving end of verbal abuses at the home matches in Alor Star, received the death threat through the SMS (short messaging system) on his handphone.
The anonymous message sender warned Mirandinha to leave the country immediately or his Brazilian wife (who is also in Alor Star) will be murdered.
The coach lodged a police report at the Alor Star police headquarters immediately upon his return from the Sabah match in Kota Kinabalu on Wednesday.
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MIRAHNDINHA: The Kedah football coach received a death threat through the SMS on his handphone. |
“My family's safety is my utmost priority and it is not fair to put them in danger. If there are people out there who are angry with me for football reasons, please talk to me straight and leave my family alone,” said an angry Mirandinha yesterday.
The coach reiterated his stand of not abandoning the team at such a crucial stage of the season. With three matches to go, Kedah are finally off the foot of the table with the 2-1 win over Sabah, but are still two points adrift of the East Malaysians, who occupy the sixth and last spot for safety.
“I will not bow to pressure and can safely say that 90% of the Kedah fans are good. It is the remaining few who are bent on taking matters into their own hands and give a bad name for football in the state.
“If the fans want me out, they should voice their displeasures through the proper channels at the Kedah FA. I am willing to sit down and discuss my future anytime with the Kedah FA officials,” added the coach.
On the field, Kedah face a massive task as they take on second placed Perak in Alor Star tonight and champions-elect Pahang in Kuantan on Tuesday to keep alive their hopes of remaining in the Super League.
Although the Canaries lost all four league encounters against Perak (1-2 and 0-1) and Pahang (3-4 and 1-2) this year, Mirandinha is optimistic of producing positive results in the upcoming two matches.
“Although Kedah lost four times to them this year, we did not go down meekly and all were one-goal defeats,” said the coach.
“I am also hoping that our neighbours Penang will do us a big favour by defeating both Sabah (tonight) and Sarawak (Tuesday) at the City Stadium.
By the time we visit the City Stadium for the final match next Saturday, I hope the two East Malaysian sides are in the bottom two spots.”
Besides having a fit again Shariman Che Omar and Cornelius Hugging back in defence, Kedah are also expected to give their latest Brazilian signing Christiano Kiko, a central midfielder, his Malaysian debut against Perak tonight.
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