Kota Kinabalu: A malfunctioning Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system at Likas Stadium may have cost Sabah FC all three points in the goalless draw with Penang FC on Sunday evening.
This followed an incident in the 77th minute when the ball from Saddil Ramdani clearly hit the hand of a Penang FC player who tried to make the block inside the box.
To the dismay of Sabah FC’s players and the fans, it was completely missed by match officials and instead only a corner kick was given.
Earlier, the use of VAR brought in by the Malaysian Football League (MFL) for the match had to be cancelled at the very last minute due to technical issues involving the audio.
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However, Rhinos head coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee played down the suggestion that Sabah FC had been robbed as a result of the decision.
“If there was a VAR (video assistant referee), we could have a penalty, right? But we have to accept that the VAR was unable to operate at the last minute.
“It may not be able to assist us this time, but in matches to come, I am certain VAR will improve to assist referees in making better decisions in terms of result,” he said.
Meanwhile, there was a hint of disappointment from Ong following the draw with Penang FC.
The team missed the chance to take the maximum points after failing to make the breakthrough despite their dominance in the second half.
“We didn’t get the right result that we wanted but overall I believe we controlled the game rather well.
“Our midfield played their part trying to get the goals but it was not easy and I also didn’t think Penang FC had created any clear scoring chances especially in the second half.
“Obviously playing at our home ground and failing to get the victory will have some impact on the start of our campaign.
“However, it is still early in the season. We will need to get better results after this. As I had said earlier, it is not going to be easy as many teams have strengthened themselves by signing many good players,” he said.
Meanwhile, Penang FC head coach Akmal Ahmad Rakhli was pleased his team managed to return with one point.
“We knew Sabah FC have many quality individuals and our plan was to defend as a unit and once we have possession then we will attack as a unit as well.
“What we achieved tonight was a positive result to the start of our season with the one point collected.”
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