NATIONAL player Faizal Saari was yesterday suspended for another Malaysia Hockey League match after the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) competitions committee met yesterday.
Terengganu Hockey Team's (THT) Faizal had shown the middle finger to umpire P. Elangovan during theirPremier Division match against Sapura, and he was suspended for one match against UniKL.
"However, the competitions committee felt that since he is a national player, Faizal should lead by example and that's why we have slapped him a two-match suspension and he will not play against Tenaga Nasional (today)," said competitions committee deputy president S. Satish Kumar.
This is not the first time the 23-year-old has been in troble, as he was red carded in the Razak Cup, and also dropped from the Asian Games line-up after getting into plenty of controversies before and after the World Cup.
However, he has proven himself as a striker in international tournaments and should he change his attitude on the pitch, he could prove to be an asset to Malaysia in the near future.
Nabil Fiqri, of Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club (KLHC), also received a one-match suspension after he was red-carded when playing against Tenaga Nasional. He will miss the Maybank match today.
However, Nabil's folly is not expected to dent Double champions KLHC's winning streak.
"Instead of searching for goals and placing un-necessary pressure on the players, after six wins, I am more interested in the points right now. We need to keep the winning momentum against Maybank and then Sapura before the cruncher against Terengganu," said Dharmaraj.
TODAY: Terengganu HT v Tenaga Nasional (Kuala Terengganu, 5pm); UniKl v Sapura (National Stadium 6pm, Pitch II); Maybank v KLHC (National Stadium 8pm, Pitch II).
SUNDAY: Terengganu HT v Maybank (Kuala Terengganu, 5pm); KLHC v Sapura (National Stadium 6pm, Pitch II); Tenaga Nasional v UniKL (National Stadium 8pm, Pitch II).
MHL STANDINGS
P W D L F A Pts
KLHC 6 6 0 0 22 6 18
TERENGGANU 6 5 0 1 27 12 15
TENAGA 6 3 0 3 11 11 9
SAPURA 6 1 2 3 11 19 5
MAYBAN 6 0 3 3 11 16 3
UNIKL 6 0 1 5 4 22 1