Sabah FA rise in Liga Premier can derail fan boycott
March 18, 2019
The rise of Sabah FA in the Liga Premier has left many loyal fans, mostly ultras, in a dilemma.
While many of these loyal fans are boycotting matches at their home Stadium Likas to show dissatisfaction towards the new Sabah Foobball Association management, the good performance of the team on the pitch is hard to ignore.
Sabah now sits second in the Liga Premier and they are on course to be title challengers if the winning momentum continues.
During home matches, Stadium Likas is slowly starting to get itself filled despite the absence of loyal fans and ultras. The absence of these group of fans however meant that there’s no drums and popular match antics being done at Stadium Likas when Sabah plays.
The management however had decided to ignore these loyal fans boycott and took the opportunity to fill the void by launching its very own fan club. Those joining are promised special privileges and they are even allowed to bring in banners and drums.
Thanks to the positive results on the pitch, the move by the Sabah Football Association seems to be working as membership to the new fan club has been encouraging and fans are slowly returning to Stadium Likas.
The situation puts the loyal Sabah fans boycott at jeopardy as the impact would be limited hence rendering the fan groups as insignificant towards the rise and fall of Sabah football.
While it is observed that loyal Sabah fans in general are still behind the team, their boycott of home matches to show they aren’t behind the Sabah Football Association’s management is in danger of derailing as more football fans are turning up to Sabah home matches.
If the boycott fails to stay on track then it would signal the end of fan power over Sabah football and the ultimate power of the Sabah Football Association as the main governing body of football in Sabah.
The question now is if such signal is good for the future of Sabah and Malaysian football as the Malaysia Football League chairman, Tengku Mahkota of Johor had on many occasions said that “Football belongs to the people”.
Also Read:
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Three things we learn from Sarawak FA until now
This article is brought to us by our Sports Writers Club resident columnist – Cyril Dason.
