Article 88 vs Rajagopal 1-2: Rajagobal Shortlisted As ASEAN's Best Coach

National head coach Datuk K. Rajagobal was among four coaches short listed for the Asean Football Federation's (AFF) Best Coach Award, held for the first time in Kuantan, tomorrow.

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Three other coaches on the list are Singapore coach Radojko Avramovic, Winfried Anton Schafer (Thailand) and Hans Micheal Weiss (Philippines).

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It will be discussed in FAM's executive council meeting scheduled in week 1 of April before being forwarded for endorsement at the FAM Congress, likely to be held in July.

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“In 2012, there was talk on amending Article 88 but the affiliates didn't follow the procedures required and subsequently it couldn't be amended.”

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Work has begun to amend the draconian law under which eight coaches and officials have been punished since 2009.

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A statement issued by the FAM said what FAM secretary-general Azzuddin Ahmad had said about national coach Rajagobal during a press conference was allegedly misinterpreted by the local media.

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“In a spontaneous reply, the secretary-general had replied that in any issue such possibilities cannot be ruled out. But unfortunately that reply became the main topic the next day.

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The FAM will like to reiterate that there is no conspiracy as reported by the media," said the statement.

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“There may be a plot to remove Rajagopal and the media might have been used as a tool towards this end,” Azzuddin said yesterday. He said people had made use of the media to do this for so long.

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FAM general secretary Datuk Azzuddin Ahmad also contended that the media might have been used by certain parties within the FAM to undermine the 56-year-old national coach.

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“I can confirm that the FAM Secretariat is not involved but maybe there is a plot within the (FAM) family to remove Rajagopal,” he added.

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Taufik berkata, prosedur sama akan turut digunakan dalam kes Rajagobal bagi memastikan keadilan kepada semua pihak.

"We have the evidence to charge (Rajagopal) because he has breached Article 88 and we are also looking at reports in the media, allegedly issued by him."

Taufik said just like how the others who breached Article 88 were charged in the past, the same procedure would be applied in the case of Rajagopal, to be fair to everyone.

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Datuk K. Rajagopal is set to be the second national coach to be charged under Article 88 of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).

Rajagopal yang dicalonkan sebagai penerima anugerah jurulatih AFF didakwa memberikan komen selepas pasukan kebangsaan tewas 4-1 kepada Arab Saudi pada aksi persahabatan pada 17 Mac lalu.

He was reported to have blamed the lack of capable strikers due to the presence of foreign imports in the M-League, for the National team's 4-1 loss to Saudi Arabia on March 17

Rajagobal menyuarakan kekecewaannnya mengenai kekurangan penyerang semula jadi tempatan di dalam Liga Malaysia tetapi kenyataannya disifatkan sebagai mengkritik skuad kebangsaan.

Article 88 states that only the president and the general-secretary of the FAM can make statements regarding the national squad and the association's management.

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Everyone else is to remain tight-lipped. And by “everyone else”, they mean, “official, coach of the association or referee or any member or associate member or player registered.."

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Artikel 88 memperuntukkan hanya presiden dan setiausaha agung FAM boleh mengkritik badan.

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“Article 88 is a draconian law and is not relevant anymore. FAM should be open to criticism." - Fazal Azwandi Abu Bakar, 30, executive

“I think the gag order imposed under FAM’s Article 88 deprives a person of his freedom of speech. If we look at Datuk K. Rajagopal’s statement, he was pointing out a problem."

Kelantan Football Association's advisor, Tan Sri Annuar Musa, has said that FAM can review and also eliminate Article 88 if they follow the right steps and procedures

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Menteri Belia dan Sukan, Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek berkata, dia amat bimbang mengenai bilangan individu yang dikenakan hukuman di bawah Artikel 88 sejak 2009.

It seems that FAM prefers to discuss problems instead of finding solutions. The national coach is definitely the right person to comment on his team and the M-League

“The FAM is being overzealous in punishing individuals and seems to have forgotten its main priority and objective to develop football,” said Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay Kim

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I will talk to the association first, rather than the media. If the team is not performing well, I will blame myself first before pointing fingers at others.

Khairy Jamaluddin says "FAM should give more freedom because the people within are no enemy of the FAM."

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“Instead of punishing him, the FAM should have found a coach who will not criticise it,” said Dr Khoo.

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If they have the guts, they should just sack the national coach and pay him compensation instead of abusing their power under the Article 88.

If they can’t handle a simple constructive criticism how are they going to improve the standard of our football?

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We can forget about reclaiming the AFF Cup, let alone to be at least 10th best in Asia - which should actually be FAM's target in the near future. Perhaps, it is time for Rajagopal to leave.

It's time for Rajagopal to be sacked. Make way for a more experienced coach.

K. Rajagopal played for PKNS FC, Selangor FA and Sabah FA in the Malaysian semi-professional league from 1978-1989. He is a former national striker, with 20 international caps between 1980 and 1983.

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On June 4, 2011, K. Rajagopal was awarded the Panglima Jasa Negara (P.J.N) which carries the title Datuk in conjunction with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's birthday, 2011.

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