Skip to main content

Raja to face FAM's wrath?

K. RAJAGOBAL could feel the brunt of the FA of Malaysia's (FAM) Article 88 if its disciplinary committee decides to pursue the matter.

The national coach, upset with the 4-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia in a friendly on Sunday, bluntly stated after the final whistle that the lack of strikers in the M-League was the cause behind his team's struggles of late.

Article 88 forbids football officials, coaches and players from speaking on policy matters without leave from FAM.

The committee, headed by Taufik Abdul Razak, had a meeting at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya to discuss  other pending issues and had intentions to touch on Rajagobal's issue.
FAM assistant secretary Datuk Ahmad Fuad Daud said the committee wanted to discuss about it but decided not to due to time constraint.

"The committee may discuss about it in its   meeting either on March 27 or 28. They will decide whether there is a case," said Ahmad Fuad in Kelana Jaya.

FAM vice president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal, however, backed Rajagobal, stating that the coach has the right to comment about his team's strengths and weaknesses.

"Rajagobal has not breached Article 88. As a coach, he has the right to say anything about his team. We should not go overboard. If we keep harping about petty issues then I think we will not go anywhere," said Subahan, also the team manager, in Kelana Jaya yesterday.

'He was only giving his honest view. If a coach is not able to give constructive views then how is he going to coach the national team? I think it has nothing to do with Article 88...he did not make negative comments."

Subahan said everyone should focus on motivating the national team, not harshly criticising them.
"Rajagobal has a contract until the end of the year and his future depends on how his team do in the Asian Cup Qualifiers. Critics should support us. Rajagobal and I will have to go if we do not meet targets," Subahan added.

Subahan, a state assemblyman, has been the team manager since the 2009 Sea Games in Laos. He and Rajagobal enjoy a good working relationship with the former being instrumental in the team's success in Sea Games and the 2010 AFF Cup.

.
Amri Yahyah (left) and Mahalli Jasuli in a training session at Wisma MBPJ yesterday. Pic by Goh Thean Howe
By Ajitpal Singh
Read more: Raja to face FAM's wrath? - Soccer - New Straits Times

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ex-coach's jail sentence cut to a year

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday sentenced former athletics coach C. Ramanathan to 12 months' jail for molesting two junior athletes 19 years ago. A three-man bench led by Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus unanimously dismissed Ramanathan's appeal against conviction, but varied the jail sentence of four years to a year, which was to run concurrently. Following yesterday's ruling, Ramanathan, 75, a former teacher, walked out a free man as he had served 10 months in Kajang Prison. Convicts get one-third remission for good behaviour while in prison. However, he will lose his pension. Hishamudin, who sat with Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail and Datuk Linton Albert, said the court found no merit to overturn the conviction. "However, in reducing the sentence, we considered Ramanathan's age and the long years the appeal has taken." Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud submitted that then High Court judge Tan Sri Abdull Hamid E...
2 comments
Read more

Badminton: Fans rooting for all-Malaysian semis

Reports: RAJES PAUL KUALA LUMPUR: The home fans will be rooting for an all-Malaysian men’s singles semi-final between Lee Chong Wei and Liew Daren. But Chong Wei is more fancied to advance than Daren in quarter-final matches against Indonesian Simon Santoso and Dane Peter Gade-Christensen respectively at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil today. Yesterday, Chong Wei defeated Vietnamese Nguyen Tien Minh 21-9, 18-21, 21-7 in a second-round match that saw the world number one struggling to adapt to the draught in the stadium in the second game. And Daren continued a fairy tale run in his home Open, blowing away a toothless Hsueh Hsuan-yi of Taiwan 21-14, 21-12. Although Choong Wei had to slog for the win over Tien Minh, the top seed and defending champion felt that he was playing better by the day. “I got off to a good start but found it hard to cope with the draught. I tried to catch up after losing my momentum but that did not happen and I decided to conserve energy for ...
11 comments
Read more

Rajagobal Let Off The Hook

PETALING JAYA, April 24 (Bernama) -- National head coach Datuk K. Rajagobal was let off the hook by the Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM) Disciplinary Committee after finding no evidence that he had violated FAM's Article 88, as claimed. FAM Disciplinary Committee chairman Datuk Taufik Abdul Razak said the committee had decided not to charge Rajagobal after carefully analysing the video of the post-match press conference by the 56-year-old coach. "After listening to the recording of the post-match press conference, we decided to drop the charge against Rajagopal as he did not make such a statement. "Maybe his (Rajagobal) assessment and comments of the match was misconstrued by the media. There was no mention of the FAM policy throughout his comments," said Taufik after emerging from a three-hour Disciplinary Committee meeting at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya, here, Wednesday. Rajagobal who does not mince his words when asked to com...
4 comments
Read more