A Letdown For Malaysian Football Fans

As a die-hard football fan, I was so excited when Chelsea football club, bankrolled by billionaire Roman Abramovich will play our National football team in the Shah Alam Stadium. I thought that after a five year lapse, I am finally able to witness our National team testing themselves against the world-class footballers from Chelsea. The last time we played against Chelsea in the FAPL in 2003, the match was telecast live on national television. Although I am a Liverpool fan, I’m still eager to see players such as Michael Essien, Frank Lampard, Deco and Michael Ballack playing in Malaysia.

But yesterday, I searched the TV guide in major newspapers to check whether the Chelsea versus Malaysia friendly match will be broadcast live on national television. To my disappointment, but as I had predicted earlier, NO LIVE TELECAST! Not even on Astro SuperSports. I wonder if TV1, TV2, TV3, NTV7, 8TV and TV9 have any financial difficulties. The sports coverage on national television is getting from bad to worse. For example, no more live telecast for Formula One and the European Champions League.

The Chelsea versus Malaysia friendly match was eagerly awaited by all Malaysians, even amongst non-football fans. Is it a plot by the FAM, or in this case, the organiser Pro Events, to ban screening the match live to force we Malaysians to go to the Shah Alam stadium to watch the match? The tickets are priced at RM33, RM53, RM83, RM103 and RM303 for VIP tickets respectively. It may be just a fraction of about RM5000 we need to pay to travel to Anfield, Old Trafford, Emirates Stadium or Stamford Bridge to catch the EPL stars live in action. Is it that affordable for Malaysians to travel to Shah Alam? I will not spend that money especially after the recent fuel hike. After all, a return trip from Ipoh to Shah Alam Stadium including match ticket will cost me a fortune as I am still a 19-year-old student. The timing of the match was not in my favour as I still have to attend classes the following day.

All the national television channels, TV1 as the main culprit, should have telecasted the Chelsea versus Malaysia friendly match instead of all those boring MSL and Malaysia Cup matches played in near empty stadiums. I will rather do my revisions than watching Malaysian football. Astro for example, has been showing advertisements since two weeks ago that they are the official broadcaster, but they are screening the delayed telecast a day after the match, when all the excitement has long gone. Astro the “Official Delayed Broadcaster” perhaps?

All this made me wonder: were they instructed by certain “parties” not to live-telecast the match. What is the big deal to tell all Malaysians that the match will be telecast live in England, Italy, Portugal, Balkans, Serbia, Poland, CIS States, Indonesia, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, the Middle East, but NOT in Malaysia? Why let only 50,000 odd fans watching the match while depriving other interested Malaysians from watching this exciting match? How about those who failed to get tickets? After all, how often does a famous club such as Chelsea visit Malaysia?

Luckily, I was able to get the final score from the internet and some highlights from YouTube – the video sharing website. I thought our goalkeeper Mohd Helmi Eliza Elias had a great game although he conceded two goals. Who knows he might have impressed some scouts from European clubs?

Can Malaysian television channels improve their sports coverage by bringing back to all Malaysian live telecast of exciting sports events such as Formula One and the 2008/2009 European Champions League?