Manchester United Fan In Malaysia

A super strike from midfielder Safiq Rahim gave Malaysia a heartwarming 1-0 win over the South Korean Olympic team in a friendly match at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

The Selangor playmaker brought cheer to the 3,000 odd fans when he beat towering goalkeeper Lee Bum-soo from 25 metres out with a lethal shot in the 51st minute.

The Korean defence was caught by surprise when Safiq picked up a rebound from his own free kick before he breezed past two defenders and unleashed a low shot beyond the reach of Bum-soo.

It was an encouraging performance by K. Rajagopal’s boys, who are preparing for the Guangzhou Asian Games in November.

The Koreans are on a bigger mission to get into the 2012 London Olympics and they came here with mostly newcomers in their newly-formed Under-21 squad.

Malaysia put up a spirited display and Rajagopal hoped that the team would continue to show the same kind of commitment and consistency in international matches.

After SEA games gold medal performances, our U23 squad show that we are not too far behind. Hopefully this squad can maintain their good form in Asia Games. Although it is just against Korea newly formed squad that mostly U21, it is still a good result for us.

Let us hope that this squad won’t disappoint us in the next 3-4 years!

I still don’t understand why some fans got angry with what Perak & Johor’s mufti opinion. Manutd fan all over the country know about the red devil image in Manutd crest since forever. Nothing new about it!! Not like what Perak’s mufti said…

Harussani said many football fans were unaware of the image on the emblem!

Just take it as an advice from them in a different perspective. They just worry that we become devil worshiper. There are religious leaders..so.. what do you expect they would said?? They talked as religious leader and we talked as football fan. We looked at “Red Devil” as a football team… but they looked at “Red Devil” as the enemy of God. Same word but …different understanding.

Harussani Zakaria, a cleric from northern Perak state, said football kits with devils, crosses or skulls promoted the “wrong value” for Muslims but that doesn’t mean he wanted them banned.

Yesterday, BBC News contacts me from London and request for an interview regarding this issue for their special programme. I told them…. It won’t affect much. Manutd fan in Malaysia will still wear the jersey. It’s not a big issue here. Not many people will take it seriously. They know that it is just a football club and nothing related to devil worship at all.

However, deep inside my heart… I hope Manutd will consider changing the emblem in Manutd jersey because this issue gives a great opportunity to our rival to “bang” us as United fan but…. I still hope the “Red Devil” nickname remain!

Manchester United Fan Club Malaysia, which has about 7,000 members, declined to comment, but the fan club’s chief, Lawrence How, noted there was no official ban on the jerseys.

Luckily.. the clerics agreed there was no “fatwa”, or religious edict will be release regarding this issue!!

The Johor Religious Council adviser and the Mufti of Perak both state that images of crosses, liquor brands and devils on football shirts are an insult to Allah and should not be worn by Muslims.

“There is no excuse for wearing such garments because it means, as a Muslim, you are idolising the symbol of another religion,” Datuk Nooh Gadot, the Mufti of Johor, said.

The Mufti of Perak, Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria, said that Muslims wearing such football shirts “leads to a path of sin” because displaying the symbol of another faith means the wearer is prioritising that faith over Islam.

Haha…

I don’t want to get emotional about this issue..but its quite sad(or funny maybe..??) when football has been mixed up with religion. If wearing red devil means encourage devil worshiping. Then.. how about wearing the image of moon?? Can we said…its encourage Moon worship?? or the image of animals that could encourage animal worship??? Or the the image of Prime Minister?? Emmm…

How about United just change their crest same as the old one??

Take a look at this.. Manutd badge – history;

1) City of Manchester Coat of Arms: Worn on United shirts in Cup Finals up until 1970′s. Still worn today on official the Manchester United team blazers. Got the images of antelope & lion… maybe cannot – animal worship??.

2) Before the Red Devil arrived this appeared in merchandise during the 1960′s. features the ship and lines from the Manchester Coat of Arms… but not in United jersey.

3) In 1970 the Manchester United badge featured it’s famous devil symbol for the first time, replacing the three yellow stripes.. This had been the team’s nickname ever since Matt Busby adopted it for the club a few years earlier. He wanted to strike fear into his opponents with a new nickname as he felt the Busby Babes would not do this. He actually got the name from the Salford City Reds rugby league team who were givien the nickname Les Diables Rouges (The Red Devils) by the French media after a tsuccessful tour of the country in 1934.

4) The badge pretty much remained unaltered for 28 years – United’s kit manufacturer in the mid-eighties adidas did briefly replace the curly bits on the top banner with a pair of football boots, but the club quickly returend to the more traditional banner soon after. In 1998 the badge lost the “Football Club” from the banner and replaced it with “United” which of course was taken from the top banner. The new design was created in an effort to turn Manchester United into brand, it seemed like the club no longer wanted to known as ‘just’ a football club, a school of thought that didn’t sit well with many United fans at the time.

So, make your choice and pass it to your Mufti for approval..then send it to Glazer..hehehhe..

Before that happen…. I will keep wearing Manchester United shirts with current logo and crest!!