PETALING JAYA, March 20 — The immediate suspension of the man in black who refereed the Super League match between Sabah FC and Penang FC last Friday, is a proactive step taken by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), said Malaysian Football League (MFL) chief executive officer Stuart Ramalingam.

He said the move coincides with his efforts in liaising with FAM to ensure that referees appointed under the sport’s governing body always display credibility and fair play as required by the national football community.

"Sometimes it is a pity when a player who misses a penalty kick (but) gets a second chance in the next match but with the referee, there cannot be any mistakes.

"The announcement regarding FAM’s action to (immediately) suspend a referee is a proactive step taken before any report or complaint from the team. I think it is a very good action to make sure the local football community sees for itself the action taken by FAM,” he said after the signing ceremony of local cooking oil producer Sime Darby Oils (SDO), ALIF, as a sponsor of the Malaysian League (M League) for this season.

Stuart was commenting on referee Zulkarnain Zakaria who officiated the match on Friday which saw Sabah FC record a 5-2 victory over Penang FC at the Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu.

Zulkarnain’s name came on the radar screen after he was deemed to be wrong in interpreting two penalty kick situations in favour of Sabah, in the 41st minute and in extra time (90+9).

Meanwhile, regarding the offer by the Ministry of Youth and Sports (KBS) to help football clubs change the grass of the pitch in their home stadiums, Stuart hopes that it will be well received by the relevant parties in addition to taking into account the importance of player safety and quality of the game which can be better exhibited in coping with M League matches.

"We hope the M League can see grass modification at the local level not only because (the turf grass) ‘Zeon Zoysia’ is better than ‘cow grass’ but the subsoil and drainage system which may have been weakened in a stadium needs to be re-done (as zeon zoysia dies out in stagnant water),” he said. — Bernama