KUALA LUMPUR – Perak FC have issued a verbal warning to Muhammad Nur Azfar Fikri Azhar for making obscene gestures during the recent Super League match against Selangor FC.
The northwest club stated that further actions will follow based on the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) disciplinary committee’s investigation report.
Sunday’s match saw the 24-year-old midfielder visibly frustrated during the second half of the match after a ball tussle with Selangor’s Zikri Khalili, resulting in the referee awarding the Red Giants a throw-in.
Azfar, who has been featured for the national under-23 side on several occasions, proceeded to make obscene gestures towards the linesman, which was captured on camera.
This has led to football fans condemning Azfar’s actions on social media as disrespectful and unprofessional, despite scoring his team’s sole goal in his side’s 2-1 defeat to Selangor in the match at the MBPJ Stadium.
Speaking to Scoop, Perak FC’s chief executive officer Bobie Farid Shamsudin said that the club hopes incidents like these do not reoccur as they impact the club’s image.
“We have a code of conduct in our club and every player, coach, and official should adhere to the code of conduct. It’s evident Azfar breached the code, and we need to take action against him.
“Without a doubt, his actions have definitely impacted the image of our club, and he will be penalised. In cases like this, the most we could do is to issue a fine.
“A verbal warning has been given to the player, and we will be taking further actions against him based on FAM’s disciplinary report after further investigations.
“We will meet Azfar this week for a chat and to advise him on controlling his temper to ensure situations such as this do not happen again,” said Bobie when contacted.
Previously, the Malaysia Football League (MFL) told Scoop that Azfar’s incident has now been referred to FAM, as player disciplinary issues fall under the football body’s jurisdiction.
When Scoop contacted FAM for updates on the investigation, secretary-general Datuk Noor Azman Rahman said that the governing body is waiting for MFL’s report on the incident.
Noor Azman further said that Azfar will be given a show-cause letter if he is found guilty of his actions.
“We are aware of the player’s actions. Once we receive the report from MFL, we will discuss with our legal unit before referring (the case) to our disciplinary committee on actions against the player.
“For cases like this, we usually give the player a show-cause letter, and the player will be given a total of 14 days to explain his wrongdoings.
“We will only bring the issue to the disciplinary committee once the player has given his explanation, as we also want to be fair to the player.
“The disciplinary committee is an independent body, and I’m sure that severe action will be taken if the player is proven guilty,” said Azman.
Previously, FAM’s disciplinary committee fined Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) and Selangor FC for several infractions during last year’s Malaysia League (M-League) campaign.
Most notably, JDT was fined RM15,000 for an incident where a Kuala Lumpur City FC fan suffered serious injuries after being assaulted by unknown individuals during the FA Cup final between the two teams at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, Iskandar Puteri.
Additionally, former Selangor player Yazan Mousa Mahmoud Alarab was banned for life from all football activities in Malaysia for kicking and spitting at the referee after being shown a red card during their Malaysia Cup quarter-final and return-leg match against Terengganu FC.
Perak currently ranks 11th in the Super League table with three points from four games. – June 25, 2024