Malaysian Fans Urged To Boycott Tottenham, Liverpool Friendlies

There is "growing unease" in Malaysia over the friendly between Tottenham Hotspur and a select XI on May 27 because it "may disrupt the national team's preparations for the World Cup qualifiers against East Timor and Palestine," according to John Duerden of the London GUARDIAN. A local supporters' group called Ultras Malaya has been urging fans to "boycott the game at the Shah Alam Stadium as well as a July match with Liverpool." The Spurs fixture is "causing most of the controversy however," as it comes just before the national team kicks off qualification for the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup. Alfadli Awaludin, a senior member of Ultras Malaya, said that the games are "not what Malaysian football needs." Awaludin: "The timing is not right. We should focus on much more important fixtures like the World Cup qualifying campaign." The group started a Twitter hashtag #SayNoToCircusGames that "gained some traction among fellow supporters, though there has been plenty of disagreement on social media" (GUARDIAN, 5/11).