Wednesday, April 02, 2014
Johor Darul Takzim Fined In Tunnel Spat
Petaling Jaya: Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) has once again got off with just a slap on the wrist when the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) handed them a RM30,000 fine for failing to provide adequate security at the Larkin Stadium during their FA Cup second-round match against T-Team on Feb 1.
JDT’s failure sparked the infamous “tunnel fiasco” where T-Team striker Evaldo Goncalves, defender Fabio Flor de Azevado and fitness coach Stefano Impagliazzo alleged they were assaulted by a top Johor FA official and his bodyguard.
The Terengganu club refused to come out after half-time (with JDT leading 2-1), citing “security reasons”, resulting in the FAM’s competitions committee later penalising T-Team for breaching competition rules and awarding the match to JDT with a 3-0 win.
On Tuesday, FAM disciplinary committee chairman Datuk Taufek Abdul Razak said Johor FA secretary Fahmy Yahya, who represented JDT at the disciplinary committee meeting, admitted there was a security lapse.
Taufek said JDT can appeal to reduce the fine. He stressed that the lack of security was in the tunnel and the match should have been continued as there were no problems on the pitch.
“After discussion, we concluded that if the tense situation in the tunnel had been controlled, the incident could have been avoided,” said Taufek at the Wisma FAM on Tuesday. (And if my Uncle Edward had no balls, he would be my Aunt Edwina)
As police reports had been lodged on the Feb 1 incident, FAM say they have to wait for the Attorney-General (AG) to take action.
“We have been told by the Inspector General of Police that the police’s investigation is complete and a report has been sent to the AG.
“We will take action against the individual involved if the AG doesn’t pursue the matter. The case is not considered closed yet and the disciplinary committee has two years to act on the offence.”
Commenting on another disciplinary matter, Taufek said that no action would be taken against JDT midfielder Pablo Aimar and striker Luciano Figueroa in an alleged racial abuse case on Pahang’s Damion Stewart during their Super League match at the Darul Makmur Stadium on Feb 7. The case was dropped as there is insufficient evidence.
The committee also fined the Sarawak FA RM5,000 because their fans fired flares in a Super League match against Armed Forces at the Selayang Stadium on Jan 18.
# posted by Me @ 8:56 AM 
