Sports

Match-fixing, hooliganism: New Malaysian body targets clean slate

Most recent scandal was flare-throwing during World Cup qualifier

Afp September 17, 2015

In this picture taken September 8, 2015 Malaysian police personnel try to control the crowd after play was suspended during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying football match between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia in Shah Alam. PHOTO: AFP

SINGAPORE: A new Malaysian football body will launch a drive to stamp out match-fixing and hooliganism when it takes over the running of domestic competitions next year, said its chief executive.

Malaysian football has been repeatedly hit by scandal, most recently last week when flare-throwing fans brought a World Cup qualifier with Saudi Arabia to a halt.

But Football Malaysia’s CEO Kevin Ramalingam said a reorganisation and a lucrative new TV deal could be the start of a new era, comparing it to the English Premier League’s advent in 1992.

Football Malaysia will operate the country’s top two divisions and cup competitions from January, in a set-up similar to the Premier League and Germany’s Bundesliga.

The new TV rights deal with sports media company MP and Silva guarantees a minimum of $297 million over 15 years — double what was previously earned.

“I see it as a starting point,” Ramalingam said on the sidelines of the Sports Matters conference in Singapore. “I think we’re at a position that’s very exciting in terms of what lies ahead... This is the first year of the EPL in that sense.”

However, Ramalingam said domestic football needed an image boost if it wants TV income to rise still further, with eradicating match-fixing high on the list.

Football Malaysia will use betting tracking systems and life bans to crack down on corruption, while also warning players that games are under ever closer scrutiny.

“We’ve come to a point where we have to make sure we’re serious about kicking these kind of things out of the game,” he said Ramalingam. “I think it’s [match-fixing] a problem that’s happening less now but certainly the possibility of it being there is very strong. Hopefully in the next two of three years we’ll be rid of this stigma.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2015.

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