14th June, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR: The Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM) today urged the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to allow journalists on duty, to interview players on the field, after matches.
Expressing regret over an incident whereby journalists covering the friendly match between Malaysia and Singapore last night were barred by FAM officials from interviewing players on the field, SAM secretary-general Faisal Jamal said the FAM should be flexible and not restrict journalists from carrying out their duties.
“I hope FAM will be flexible in the future, especially for the development of football in the country,” he told Bernama when contacted.
During the incident at the Shah Alam Stadium on Tuesday night, FAM officials not only denied journalists from interviewing the players on the field, they had also insisted that journalists conduct such interviews during the post-match press conference.
He added that probably the FAM officials do not understand that only the coaches from both teams come for the press conference and not the players.
Meanwhile, FAM Vice President and FAM-SAM Media and Public Affairs Committee Chairman Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal said yesterday’s incident was due to a misunderstanding between journalists and FAM officials.
“In the past, matches were held at the Nasional Stadium in Bukit Jalil and the media were allowed to interview players on the field but since the match was held at the Shah Alam Stadium there was some confusion,” he said.
Subahan said he would study the incident before meeting SAM to ensure such incidents do not happen again.
“We will also consider the request from journalists to interview players on the field after matches,” he said.
In Tuesday night’s action, Malaysia registered a comfortable 2-0 victory over causeway neighbour Singapore in a return leg of their international friendly series at the Shah Alam Stadium.
Malaysia who threw away a 2-0 lead to end their first leg international friendly match at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore on June 8 with a 2-2 draw, seemed to have learnt their lesson well and held stoutly to the lead.
Backed by a strong crowd at the Shah Alam Stadium, Malaysia started the match on a positive note and had the Singaporeans on the ropes right from the start and deservedly took the lead in the 18th minute through Ahmad Shakir Mohd Ali while skipper Mohd Safiq Rahim who scored from a free kick in Singapore, accomplished a similar feat in the 61st minute, also from a free kick. In the first leg, Safiq had curled in a spectacular free kick into the top corner and today, albeit a little further from his earlier strike, delivered the same result, placing the ball well beyond the outstretched hands of Mohamed Hyrulnizam Juma’at in the Singapore goal.
Seven minutes after Safiq’s goal, the match turned into a brawl momentarily as tension ran high among players from both sides when Singapore’s Mustafic Fahrudin hacked down Bunyamin Umar brutally, thus earning the marching orders from Thailand referee Teetichai.
Meanwhile, Malaysian coach Datuk K. Rajagobal said he was happy with the result because the players played their hearts out. “I hope we can maintain the winning momentum,” he said.