GEORGE TOWN - The Penang FC management has directed its technical director S. Gobiraj and head coach, Tomas Trucha to submit a full report following a brawl involving Terengganu FC II (TFC II) in the Terengganu Menteri Besar Cup final on Wednesday night.
The Penang team management said in a statement yesterday that the report would be for evaluation purposes as well as to assist the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) or the Malaysian Football League (MFL) to conduct further investigations.
According to the statement, the management said the actions of one of the team's players, Adib Raop as he tried to ease tensions during an incident had been misunderstood by the opposing team as a provocation, which resulted in him sustaining serious injury to his nose.
"This aggressive action also resulted in some Penang FC players losing control and retaliating with physical action," the Penang FC management posted on Facebook this evening.
Adib would undergo a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) test after suffering the injury to his nose and the statement expressed hopes that TFC II player Ridzuan Razali did not sustain serious injuries as a result of the incident.
"Penang FC players should have been more patient and always prioritise safety from any injury arising from ill-advised actions by any party,” the statement read.
The Penang FC management stressed that they needed to take a hard stance in dealing with situations that could possibly lead to uncontrolled behaviour had the match was allowed to continue, and that was why they chose to cede the match to the host team.
"Penang FC apologises for the difficult decision that had to be made last night for the safety of all players. To the home team, congratulations on winning the cup and for being a good organiser and host,” the statement read. - BERNAMA