Kuching City FC cites precedent cases in Scott Woods issue

KUCHING (March 25): Datuk Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman has called on the Malaysian Football League (MFL) to conduct a thorough investigation into the Scott Galang Woods registration issue, stressing that there are precedent cases where similar technical errors were resolved without penalising teams.

Speaking to reporters during his Hari Raya open house at Dewan Hikmah on Tuesday, the Kuching City FC chairman and president said the club had already submitted a detailed statement and match chronology for MFL’s consideration.

He pointed also out that there were at least two prior cases involving similar circumstances.

“Kuching City FC has already issued a statement and the chronology of the match, so we request MFL to investigate based on our submission and application.

“If I’m not mistaken, there are two precedent cases where players were registered by the team but were not recorded by match officials. In those instances, the technical errors by match officials resulted in the players not being listed, and the appeals were accepted,” he added.

He stressed that Kuching City would pursue the matter in accordance with existing regulations.

“As we have stated before, we will fight based on the current rules, and we will request MFL to carefully review this matter,” he said.

Elaborating on the incident, Fazzrudin said the club had duly completed and submitted the player registration form, which included Scott Woods, to the match officials prior to kickoff.

However, he claimed that when the official match list was finalised, Woods’ name was omitted and replaced with Danial Amier, who was not part of the travelling squad due to injury.

“We had written, filled in the registration and included Scott Woods’ name, and we submitted it to the match officials. But when the officials registered the list for the match, his name was left out and replaced with Danial Amier, who did not travel with the team as he was injured.

“This could have been a mistake or technical error on the part of the match officials. Therefore, we urge MFL to investigate and come up with a recommendation to resolve our application,” he said.

The controversy stems from a Super League match against Penang FC at the City Stadium in George Town on March 14. Woods was brought on as a late substitute despite his name not appearing on the official match sheet.

The incident has sparked debate as league regulations typically impose a 3-0 forfeiture and fines for fielding an unregistered player although Kuching City maintains it had complied with submission procedures prior to the match.

MFL is currently reviewing the case following representations from the club.