SATURDAY was a day of shame for Malaysia. On that day, videos of Johor Military Force personnel and several men in civilian clothing allegedly assaulting KL City FC fans — who were at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium watching the FA Cup final between Johor Darul Ta'zim and KL City — went viral on social media.
In the first footage, a uniformed man, believed to be a Johor Military Force officer, is seen walking aggressively towards several spectators before dragging them out of the stadium sitting area. A second video shows the same scene taken from a different angle.
A third, more disturbing video, shows a man on the floor being kicked repeatedly. This 13-second video was taken from outside the stadium, behind the spectators' sitting area. Since being posted on Twitter, it has garnered hundreds of thousands of views, a measure of how disturbed Malaysians are of the shameful scene, captured for eternity.
On Instagram, a picture of the bruised up alleged victim was uploaded for all to see. The police have confirmed that a report was lodged by a 30-year-old assault victim at the Sungai Besi police station in Kuala Lumpur at 11.50am on July 23.
Despite such clear footage, police are calling for witnesses to step forward. Very bizarre indeed.
The alleged incident happened in front of thousands of people. The police should not take it lightly. Sure, not all videos uploaded on social media platforms can be said to be authentic. But these footage are easily verifiable. There were police there. What better witness than the men and women in blue?
No time should be wasted waiting for witnesses to come forward. Quick action is good for the image of the police. Plus, it sends a message to everyone that no one is above the law. KL City FC has rightly condemned the alleged assault. "We vehemently abhor any kind of crime and violence in football," said its chief executive officer, Stanley Bernard, a former international.
Violence in football stadiums doesn't just stay there. Nor does it stay in the state or the country. It is zoomed to the world for all to see. If it is a shame in Malaysia, it would be a shame and more to a global audience.
Never underestimate the negative message that such incidents send to the world. The Saturday rough-up wasn't on the pitch. Pitch fights, while not common, happen everywhere, not just in Malaysia. It wasn't even football hooliganism.
Again, it's a phenomenon common to most football clubs, especially in Europe. This wasn't fisticuffs between fans. If so, we can say the fans had brought shame upon themselves. We may even be tempted to say, "they deserve it". The spectator certainly doesn't deserve the broken nose, bleeding head, eye and bruised body, which a doctor at Canselor Tuanku Muhriz Hospital, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, had confirmed, according to a Bernama report.
To borrow words from Stanley, we say this: football mustn't become a life and death game. The police can stop it from becoming one, but they must act fast, without fear or favour.
Anything less would mean no fans will head the way of the stadium. This is not hard for the fans to do.
Already, Malaysian football is of such low standards that even football legend Khalid Ali and his former national teammates hardly watch it.