Crisis in Malaysian Football? Stop Racism Now!

THE Malaysian football team faces abject failure in the recent tournaments, sparked a furious debate as fans, officials, football experts and the media grapple over the reasons behind the alarming slide of the nation in world football. However, this search for the answers to the Malaysian team’s mounting problems hit a embarrassing note when the issue of racism was brought up. Although the Malaysian government is under constant criticism from the global free press movement for the limitations it places on the country’s mainstream media, the fact that this issue of racism in sports was brought up by the national tabloid New Straits Times is an indication of the loosening of these controls.

Now that this issue of racism in sports has been brought up, it would be a big mistake to sweep it under carpet again and the best course of action is to take closer look at it. The question of whether race is a major criterion in the selection of players for the national team arose from the fact that the squad that fared so badly in in the last years 2007 Asian Cup comprised just one Indian while the rest was Malays. This led to the question of why the other races, especially the Chinese, were not selected and fears that football, the nation’s favourite sport, has become a divisive factor in our multi-racial society.

R. ARUMUGAM (SPIDERMAN) WAS A LEGENDARY MALAYSIA NATIONAL FOOTBALL PLAYER

A senior FAM official hit the nail on the head when he said race had no bearing on team selection and the coaches just had no choice but to select the best players at their disposal and most of them were Malays. His statement touched on the disturbing situation of preference and dominance of different sports along racial line in Malaysia.

National basketball and volleyball teams are dominated by Chinese players simply because these sports are very popular among Chinese youths while very few youths from other races take up these sports seriously. The question of racial bias in selections for the national basketball and volleyball teams never arose because it is accepted that the best players in these sports come from the Chinese community.

However, the situation in football is different because once this sport cut across racial lines and was widely played among all races and the national team was made up of players of different races. The great Malaysian teams of the 70's and 80's were truly a mixed bag with the likes of S.Ravindran, Soh Chin Aun, Shukor Salleh, Santokh Singh, Mothtar Dahari, Wong Choon Wah, Hassan Sani, Arumugam, Chow Chee Keong, Abdah Alif, James Wong, Isa Bakar, Bakri Ibni, Lim Teong Kim and others donning national colours.

The question of whether race is a major criterion in the selection of players for the national team arose from the fact that the squad that fared so badly in the recent tournaments. This led to the question of why the other races, especially the Indian and Chinese, were not selected and fears that football, the nation’s favourite sport, has become a divisive factor in our multi-racial society.

Restructure back the dream team as it was in 70's and 80's, multiracial team able to perform well in order to bring the glorious moments.

"MALAYSIA BOLEH"