Where were the medics?

Wednesday, February 01, 2012 - 20:21
by Haresh Deol

KUALA LUMPUR: R. Surendran dislocated his shoulder, was forced to walk from the pitch to the car park and was taken by a Selangor official to the Kelana Jaya Medical Center for further treatment.

There were neither medical officers nor an ambulance on standby to assist the Selangor striker as the main Olympic team played Selangor in a friendly match at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Tuesday. The match ended in a goalless draw.

In fact, no officials - with the exception of the National Sports Complex’s security guards - were spotted at the stadium when fans made their way to the media area, even managing to get up close with the players on the pitch.

The match was hosted by the FA of Malaysia (FAM) but the Olympic squad were mistakenly referred to as Harimau Muda B on the reserves bench located to the left of the pitch.

In contrast, Armed Forces hosted Singapore club Balestier Khalsa at the PJ Stadium on the same day and they had two doctors and two ambulances on standby.

Olympic coach Ong Kim Swee was clearly taken aback by the apathy shown. However, he was thankful none of his players suffered serious injuries as they left for Manama for an Olympic qualifying match against Bahrain on Sunday.

“I’m surprised and this is no laughing matter,” said Kim Swee. “We should be more organised. What if something major had happened?”

However, Kim Swee was quick to thank Selangor for the match.

“We needed to play matches and thankfully, Selangor agreed to play us. The Harimau Muda A team need to build on their match fitness as they have not played any competitive matches since the league ended last year.”

However, Kim Swee was confident his lads would put up a better show against the Middle Eastern team. Malaysia enjoyed a 2-0 lead in their first encounter against 10-man Bahrain, only to lose 3-2.

“The chances are very slim and some have brushed us off but I told the players that we need to still give our best. If we beat Bahrain, the group will be wide open. There is still hope,” he added.