During World War II, as part of an Australian government campaign to encourage discretion and prevent the careless sharing of information, a message was widely spread through posters depicting a fish being lured by a worm.
It had the slogan “Even a fish wouldn’t get caught if he kept his mouth shut” or similar variations.
The posters served as a reminder to the public that even small pieces of information, if spoken carelessly, could be harmful to national security and the safety of soldiers.
It may not be applicable, but it is a message to all Malaysians, especially those holding political office or those who hold posts in sports organisations.
But many continue to waffle and issue denials, not learning from past mistakes.
Hook, line, and sinker
Yesterday, the secretary-general of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), Noor Azman Rahman, was one of those who were reeled in like a whopper.
He denied allegations that FAM received complimentary tickets for the 2022 World Cup matches in Qatar from the International Federation of Association Football (Fifa).
Referring to a commentary I wrote on Monday, he claimed that the report was unfounded.
“I would like to emphasise that there were no free tickets from Fifa. FAM did not receive any complimentary tickets for the 2022 World Cup matches despite being an associated member of Fifa,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
Did I say that? Noor Azman needs an English language lesson because I made no such claim.
As if drawn by the shame, like a big fish hooked, he made some startling revelations which could drag FAM further into the sludge.
For clarity, what I wrote was: “FAM, for example, behaves like a private enterprise. Even a simple query about Malaysia’s allocation of World Cup tickets for Qatar 2022 was met with resistance and stonewalling.”
Nowhere did I mention the word “complimentary.”
But he would have been hooked if he had kept his word in a series of messages we had exchanged in January, which I had reproduced in a commentary.
Were tickets only for FAM officials?
So, now Azman has let the cat out of the bag. He said, “However, FAM purchased only 92 tickets from a maximum allocation of 290.”
“As stated in Fifa’s letter dated June 17, 2022, the ticket allocation was intended for purchase by executive committee members, FAM affiliates, sponsors, and related stakeholders.
“Based on the number of purchase requests received, FAM only purchased 92 tickets, comprising 72 for the group stage, round of 16, quarter-finals and third-place playoff; and 20 for the opening match, semi-finals, and final,” he said.
So were the tickets only for this exclusive club made up of officials?
Fifa allocates tickets to all its 211 affiliates for the World Cup, the last of which was held in Qatar two years ago, but there had been no restrictions.
Aren’t the football fans related stakeholders, which Fifa meant?
Most football associations in other countries offer the tickets to fans. In most countries, because of the large demand, balloting is carried out.
England, for example, allowed fans to buy tickets for the Qatar World Cup.
Football fans will remember that investigations resulted in the indictment of several officials, the most prominent of them being Jack Warner, who was president of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) and a Fifa executive committee member.
Warner was said to have taken all the tickets allocated to Concacaf and passed them to his son, who sold World Cup travel packages from the Caribbean.
Warner never claimed tickets were only for officials. Instead, they were given to his son’s travel agency and sold for profit.
If allocations were only meant for officials, Fifa would be reopening the door for crooked officials.
More questions raised
But would all the denials be necessary if Azman had replied to this when the questions were initially raised in January? Why did he remain silent all this time?
And finally, since Azman is keen to provide answers after nearly eight months, will he answer this question: Now that the claim that the FAM president draws a monthly salary of RM90,000 has not been denied, will he tell us how much FAM spends on its elected officials’ salaries?
Will there be an immediate response, or will we have to wait for another eight months?
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