September 9 – In a damaging blow to Asian football’s image, a World Cup qualifier between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia was abandoned just before full-time on Tuesday because of crowd trouble.
The Saudis were winning the Group A Asian qualifier 2-1 when flares and fireworks were thrown on to the pitch, possibly a reaction to Malaysia’s record 10-0 thumping by the United Arab Emirates last week that led to the coach resigning.
Police reportedly arrested 11 fans while visiting Saudi fans had to have a police escort afterwards to avoid being attacked according to local reports.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) quickly denounced the disturbances which took place in the very same city where the AFC is based and pledged to offer “all assistance and support” required to any disciplinary investigation conducted by FIFA.
AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said in a statement that the confederation was “extremely disappointed with the events which took place on Tuesday and we stress that we take such matters very seriously.”
“‘Football in Asia stands for fairness and integrity and the incident in Kuala Lumpur does nothing to enhance the image of the game across not only our continent but also the rest of the world.
“This sort of behaviour is deplored by all those who seek to protect the best interests of football in Asia and help us in our aim to be the game’s leading confederation.”
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