Khairy condemns Malaysians who attacked Vietnam fans in last night’s AFF Suzuki Cup match

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has hit out at local football fans who attacked Vietnamese fans during last night’s (Dec 7) AFF Suzuki Cup semi-final at the Shah Alam Stadium, and offered his apology to Vietnamese supporters.

“These violent fans do not represent Malaysia. My sincere apologies on behalf of Malaysia for the actions of these small number of irresponsible thugs,” he said on his Facebook page.

“No excuse for such violence. Especially against guests in our country. Is this how we treat guests? It doesn’t matter whether they are visitors or workers here, this is not Malaysian culture,” said an irate Mr Khairy.

Vietnam defeated Malaysia 2-1 in the first leg of the semi-final. The two teams will play the second leg in Hanoi on Thursday (Dec 11).

It was reported that towards the end of the match, a section of the Malaysian supporters started throwing plastic bottles at the Vietnamese fans, and both sides were embroiled in violence.

Mr Khairy said he was waiting for a report on the incident from the police and the Football Association of Malaysia, but added that he had witnessed how a section of Malaysian fans turned unruly.

“These irresponsible people don’t think what would happen to our fans when we play in Hanoi, Vietnam, for the second leg,” he said.

Last week, Asian Football Confederation slapped a US$10,000 (S$13,219) on the Football Association of Malaysia for misbehaviour of Malaysians fans during a friendly with the Philippines in March at the Selayang Stadium. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER