‘Parents want to give Nazmi moral support and take him home we agreed to their request’ team manager Datuk Afandi Hamzah
‘We had earlier planned to send him back by flight’ – Afandi
Suspended Malaysian midfielder Nazmi Faiz Mansor returns home today – “escorted” by his parents – after his participation in the 28th SEA Games was cut short following a six-match ban.
The ban was imposed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the direct red card Nazmi received for spitting at Timor Leste’s Filipe Oliveira in their opening Group B match at the Bishan Stadium on May 30.
However, team manager Datuk Sri Afandi Hamzah could not confirm the player will return home although he admiited that the team management had earlier made plans for Nazmi to return back to Kuala Lumpur by flight.
“We had earlier made plans to send him back by flight but his parents made a request to take the player home and at the same time give him moral support for his premature end to the SEA Games,” said Afandi, who is also the senior deputy president of the FA of Malaysia (FAM).
The 20-year-old Nazmi, who plays for Selangor in the Malaysian Super League, saw only 32 minutes of action at the SEA Games football competition before he was sacked with a direct red card in Malaysia’s 1-0 win over Timor Leste.
Singapore referee Foo Chuan Hui did not hesitate to red card the Malaysian player after he was informed by fourth official Yousef Almarzouq of the shameful act. Chuan Hui had missed the disrespectful and disgraceful incident which was also caught on television cameras.
Without Nazmi, Malaysia struggled against the hard running Timor Lester side but thanks to the 12th minute goal by D. Saarvindran, Malaysia were able to hold on for the 1-0 and three points.
Meanwhile, head coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee said “further punishment” on the player will be only be decided by the management after the SEA Games. Kim Swee had earlier said that Nazmi will be slapped with a “hefty fine” for gross indiscipline on the field.
“For now our focus is on the SEA Games,” said Kim Swee.
