Malaysia national team coach heavily fined for criticizing FAM?

Coach Cklamovski might face sanctions from FAM due to his public statements regarding FIFA's punishment of 7 naturalized players.

At the post-match press conference after the Malaysia vs Laos game on October 9, Coach Peter Cklamovski surprised many by openly criticizing the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) over recent FIFA allegations. The Australian coach stated: ""Management errors caused the issues with FIFA; this is FAM's fault, not Tunku Ismail’s. Without him, Malaysian football would have ended."

As soon as this message spread widely, debates about Cklamovski’s remarks erupted continuously: "Will national team coach Peter Cklamovski be reprimanded by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) for placing blame?", the Malaysian newspaper NST wrote in its latest article. According to NST, this is the question most frequently asked by Malaysia’s football community following his comments.

"Regarding this matter, Cklamovski may have violated FAM’s disciplinary rules. According to Article 58 of FAM’s regulations, any coach, player, or official who ‘damages the reputation of the match’ or ‘acts in a way that tarnishes FAM’s image’ can be disciplined. This includes warnings, suspension, or fines, even if the comments were made publicly and not in an official capacity,"the newspaper commented.

New Straits Times also cited examples of some Malaysia national team coaches who were fined for past statements: "In 2015, then national team coach Datuk Dollah Salleh was fined 5,000 RM for criticizing referees during an AFF Cup match. The late coach B. Sathianathan was suspended for six months in 2010 after publicly criticizing FAM’s scheduling arrangements..."

According to sports expert Datuk Dr. Pekan Ramli, Coach Peter Cklamovski overstepped professional boundaries: "He is doing his job, and we are doing ours. There’s no need to interfere in every issue. The national team belongs to FAM. Therefore, when making statements about FAM, one must be cautious. Speaking like that is inappropriate.

Without FAM, there would be no football or government funding. So, if he has concerns, they should be discussed internally",he stated.

"At the very least, he should be warned or called in for a hearing to explain," Pekan Ramli added."This is about protecting the reputation of a national sports association. If a local coach is punished for such remarks, then a foreign coach must be treated the same. Otherwise, it would be unfair."

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