KOTA BHARU, 16 Feb 2018:
The Kelantan Football Association (KAFA) has sacked The Red Warriors’ head coach Sathit Bensoh after the squad displayed lukewarm performance in three matches in the Super League this season.
The sacking of the Thai-born coach was confirmed by KAFA secretary-general Husin Deraman.
Husin said The Red Warriors would be handled by assistant coach Yusri Che Lah on a temporary basis.
“We cannot wait any longer although before this, we gave the opportunity to Sathit to lead Kelantan.
“We need to make this decision because of Kelantan’s poor performances, not just in three matches in the Super League but the pre-season action also did not show anything positive.”
Kelantan under Sathit was ranked lowest in the Super League chart after only one point in three matches that saw a draw and two defeats.
In the meantime, Husin said Kelantan is currently eyeing some new import coaches from Croatia, Iran and Nigeria to fill the vacancy left by Sathit.
“At least, five coaches have sent applications to become The Red Warriors’ coach so far, and some of them want to come first and see the team’s action in the match against Perak in Kota Bharu on Feb 24.”
Meanwhile, two Sarawak football players – together with a man suspected to be a ‘bookie’ – were remanded for six days to facilitate investigations into match-fixing.
The magistrate’s court here gave the remand order for the trio under Section 16 (a) (A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 after receiving the application from MACC investigation officer Dzulkarnain Rousan Hasbi.
In a statement on Sunday, the Sarawak Football Association said it was conducting an internal investigation after receiving reports on players involved in match-fixing activities.
Investigations were underway following Sarawak’s 2-3 defeat to Felcra FC in the Premier League match last Saturday, although the Sarawak team was heading 2-0 in the first-half.
– Bernama