Malaysian Football League (MFL) chief executive officer Stuart Ramalingam said the move coincides with his efforts in liaising with FAM to ensure that referees appointed under the sport’s governing body always display credibility and fair play as required by the national football community.

“A player who misses a penalty kick can get a second chance in the next match but with the referee, there cannot be any mistakes.

“The move by FAM to suspend the referee is a proactive step taken before any report or complaint from the team affected.

“It also allows the local football community sees for itself the quick action taken by FAM,” he said after the signing ceremony of local cooking oil producer Sime Darby Oils (SDO), ALIF, as a sponsor of the Malaysian League (M League) for this season.

Stuart was commenting on referee Zulkarnain Zakaria who officiated the match on Friday which saw Sabah FC record a 5-2 victory over Penang FC at the Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu.

Zulkarnain was deemed to have been wrong in interpreting two penalty kick situations in favour of Sabah, in the 41st minute and in extra time (90+9).

Meanwhile, regarding the offer by the youth and sports ministry to help football clubs change the grass of the pitch in their home stadiums, Stuart hopes that it will be well received by the relevant parties, taking into account the importance of player safety and quality of the game which can be better exhibited in coping with M League matches.

“We hope the M League can see grass modification at the local level not only because (the turf grass) ‘Zeon Zoysia’ is better than ‘cow grass’ but the subsoil and drainage system also needs to be enhanced (as zeon zoysia dies out in stagnant water),” he said.