Over FIFA’s sanctions imposed on Malaysia for its “Forbidden Seven” — as it stands, the country is unlikely to feature in the 2027 Asia Cup. And probably a few more tournaments after.
In that I joined too enthusiastically those slamming our football leaders, the herd opposed to the other herd, which blindly defends the association which governs the beautiful game in the country.
The league table reads ugly with the chance of getting nasty.
In our delirium, pouring scorn on FAM and the home ministry’s national registration department, we ended up offending our own people, the supporters of Harimau Malaya. Own goals do not win matches.
The one unerring success over the last 20 years is the culture of younger Malaysians owning the national team. Overexcited, lost in a mist of emotions, and loyal — irrational is a given. Forget not fan is a contraction of the word fanatic.
I am a football fanatic. I identify with the lads in the stand. It’s goosebumps to feel the energy walking into the stadium when a big game is about to kick off. It is a cathedral of passions where devotion is the price of entry.
They are there to win. But above that, they are there when the national team loses.
I do not want to mess with the belief.
The cliché football is a gentleman’s game played by hooligans is a class trope which holds. Which explains its fans.
But it is precious to us, this football and our relationship with it.
So can we carefully requalify sentiments. While the criticisms are on point, using phrases like betrayal to the homeland, shaming the nation, treasonous, end up upsetting football fans.
What is at stake is something personal to them. They are the most invested in the national football team, and it is not unfair to say they have more skin in the game than those just joining in to virtue signal. Buy a ticket if the national team matters to you, otherwise, tone it down suitably.
There is a subplot, the casual observer overlooks.
Our neighbouring countries serve copious and sustained online vitriol, which fuels our defensiveness. For better or worse, FAM is ours, Ultra Malaya say, and the foreign detractors poke at our deficiencies for fun rather than champion justice.
That said, let’s unpack the judgement from Switzerland.
