Following the refereeing fiasco at Saturday’s Malaysia Cup final at Shah Alam Stadium, the Malaysia Football League (MFL) has formed an independent refereeing body.
MFL chairman, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim tweeted today that the project will be put into motion before the start of the 2019 season.
“MFL has decided to form an independent refereeing body to raise the standard of officiating.
“The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) is also on board with the decision to start ahead of the 2019 football season.”
Tunku Ismail added that the independent refereeing body will consist of local and referees from Japan, England and other countries.
“The local and foreign referees will work hand in hand to raise standards. Plans are also in the pipeline to conduct referee courses by former English Premier League referees.”
Tunku Ismail said they will also be sending 25 referees to Japan for quality improvement.
Last Sunday, MFL chief executive Kevin Ramalingam said the great atmosphere of the Malaysia Cup final was marred by complaints of the refereeing.
Referee Suresh Jayaraman was slammed by players, coaches and fans for his horrible decisions during the Malaysia Cup final between Terengganu and Perak.
However, Kevin reiterared the MFL’s plans to establish an independent refereeing body.
“We are working towards having referees fulltime rather than part time now.”
Kevin added they are also looking at plans for youngsters to choose refereeing as a career
