IN THE name of defending the nation’s pride at all cost, radical Harimau Malaya fans have retaliated to the latest punitive action meted out by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) on the Football Association of Malayasia (FAM) by berating their regional peers.
“Harimau Malaya is not only fighting with FIFA but a large number of Indonesian and Vietnamese netizens, and even haters from ‘S’ (presumably Singapore),” declared a one-liner status update on the Johor Gazette Facebook (FB) page.
This could be by part stemmed from concerted trolling on FAM and the seven so-called seven heritage players after both were sanctioned by FIFA over submission of falsified documents to confirm the players’ eligibility to the world’s top-most football governing body.
Interestingly, FAM had further acknowledged a technical error on the part of its administrative staff in the documentation process submitted to FIFA which allowed the naturalised players to feature in the third round of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers against Vietnam on June 10.
Irrational as the accusation may sound, the post by Johor Gazette offers a glimpse into the unconstrained emotional tendency of certain segment of Malaysians – just like the accusation of those who fly the Jalur Gemilang upside down as outright “traitors” without further probing if it was only a honest mistake.
“It’s advisable to check the phones & social media accounts of Indonesian workers in Johor and if possible, the whole country.,” mooted one commenter.
“Any social media accounts that insult Malaysia should be taken seriously. If necessary, expel them even if they use a valid work permit.”
Another commenter who concurred with the poster proffered that “anyone who brings shame to the name of Malaysia should be hated”.
Elsewhere, one FB post by Gta Little who lives in Kyoto, Japan which to the eyes of radical fans portrayed Vietnam as a sore loser for allegedly reported the dubious status of the players’ ancestry to FIFA after the former went down 0-4 at home to Harimau Malaya had sparked anger against the Vietnamese workforce in Malaysia.
“If Malaysia wins this case (its appeal to FIFA), just ban Vietnamese workers from seeking employment in Malaysia,” lambasted a Johorian commenter with others reminded to include Indonesians a.k.a. “the Konoha gang” into the list.
“There’s no point in helping people who don’t know how to appreciate their good fortune in Malaysia.”
Eventually, Malaysians being Malaysians, racism has to creep in with accusation of “the Nguyen clan is hanat (Malay slang for “jerk”) and Vietnamese being “big-time dog/cat-eaters”.
Thankfully, the latest furore is merely one that revolves around Southeast Asian football rivalry given FAM, too, has its fair share of detractors among local football fans who are critical of the Harimau Malaya squad being filled with heritage players who prevented home-grown talents to shine. – Sept 29, 2025
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Main image credit: ASEAN FOOTBALL/Facebook
