Piece of mind: Former Terengganu and Selangor coach Irfan Bakti and Safee Sali have differing views on the MFL’s flip-flop stance.
PETALING JAYA: Former player Safee Sali has some wise words for the Malaysian Football League (MFL) – take responsibility and work on gaining the respect of the masses.
MFL were formed to revive of the image of Malaysian football but instead, their reputation has taken a massive beating after they reversed several decisions in penalising Selangor for withdrawing from last month’s Charity Shield match against Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT).
Safee, who is the Professional Footballers Association of Malaysia (PFAM) president, said it was time for the higher-ups in the body, especially president Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan and chief executive officer Datuk Stuart Ramalingam to restore the image of MFL.
Safee Sali
“I feel the higher-ups in MFL should take responsibility for their actions. People will not believe MFL after this. Respect won’t be there anymore. Things would only get tougher after this,” said Safee, who have played for teams like Selangor and JDT in the past.
“They must do something to earn the respect of the masses again.”
On Thursday, MFL reduced the fine from RM100,000 to RM60,000 and cancelled their decision to dock three points. They have also allowed spectators to watch Selangor’s next match against JDT in the Super League at home.
Selangor can still appeal the new decision made by MFL and the team confirmed they they will be submitting one latest tomorrow.
MFL decided to reduce the penalties after Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah slammed their ‘excessive’ punishment.
That U-turn did not go down well with Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim (TMJ) as he slammed MFL’s decision, saying that they were not sticking to their guns and had set a precedent for other clubs in the future.
Safee said he was baffled with what MFL did.
“How can they change the decision immediately? In the future, if other teams have issues, and they use their rulers to issue a statement, will they immediately change their decisions?” he questioned.
“The way MFL handled this episode is bad. They did not make any concrete decisions. They did not weigh the pros and cons, when they issued the decision and also when revised their earlier decision.”
Safee said what Sultan Sharafuddin said in his official letter should be respected.
“They (MFL) should have known better when Selangor asked for the postponement. They should have weighed the consequences.”
“Selangor requested for the game to be postponed because they wanted to protect their players after Faisal Halim was attacked. I felt empathy and I think, MFL should have shown the same to them.”
Faisal suffered an acid attack in a mall on May 5, just days before the opening league match.
But former Selangor and Terengganu coach Irfan Bakti feels that the Charity Shield game should not have been postponed and added that MFL should have been firm with their decisions.
“I know people will lambast me for my view but football is a team game. If one person is down, you have 23-25 others available,” he said.
“It does not feel right to postpone. If I was the coach in that situation, I would have wanted the game to go on but we all know in Malaysia, management have a stronger say.
“But Selangor made their own decision to withdraw. So, MFL issued punishments, but I also agree that some of the decisions were harsh on them.
“Now MFL have changed their decision again. Why are they not being firm? There is a due process for all this.”
Irfan also stated that the Charity Shield game should not be incorporated as a league game as they should follow their Western counterparts, by using it as a normal cup match or a big pre-season kick-off game.
