Jakarta Casual

The FAM disciplinary board, headed by Datuk Taufik Razak, suspended Kelantan coach B. Satianathan for six months and fined him RM2,000 on Friday.

A letter was faxed to the Kelantan FA in Kota Baru the same day — despite the fact that Kelantan observes Friday and Saturday as their weekend.

Satianathan was deemed "guilty" of speaking his mind, for saying it was unfair to allow Terengganu to play their away match against Perlis in Kuala Terengganu in a Super League match. This was in July.

Isn’t it in the rule book that teams in the Malaysia Cup must have a registered A-licence coach at the sidelines?

Satianathan is the only coach in the team with an A-licence and could his absence from the bench mean Kelantan are "illegal" and thus, cannot play in the final?

Now, wouldn’t that be an interesting question for FAM to answer?

Let’s see how the fanatical Red Warriors supporters will react to this. Satianathan will not be able to participate actively in any football activity for the duration.

Does this mean Kelantan will scout for a new coach for the 2011 season?

Satianathan is in the running for Best Coach category in the FAM- 100Plus National Awards.

Having secured second spot in the Super League and with Kelantan in the Malaysia Cup final, he is tipped to win.

Wouldn’t that be a slap on the disciplinary board's face?

When Reduan Abdullah was suspended last year for allegedly "speaking against policy matters", he was asked to justify his actions in front of the board.

Why wasn’t Satianathan called up to answer charges? Why was a decision made based on his written explanation some three months ago? Why the double standards?

Many witnessed Selangor defender Khairul Anuar Baharom head-butt T-Team’s Haris Safwan Kamal in a Malaysia Cup group match.

Did the committee discuss the matter?

All Satianathan did was to state the obvious.

Judging from reports – Print, online and blogs – Satianathan is getting a lot of sympathy. If only the smart folks at FAM had thought about this.

But then again, do they ever think in the first place?

COMMENT - I was chatting with a friend today and we were both bemoaning the state of Indonesian football. 'Don't worry,' says I clutching at straws, 'things could be worse. We could be in Malaysia!'

I wrote a few days about logic and how people make decisions here because they can, not because they need making. The Malaysian FA are how I imagine the MCC to be about 50 years ago. Crusty old bores in cushty safe positions isolated from the real world.