M'sia, Saudi Arabia match stopped over fans' wild antics

SHAH ALAM: Police denied that security at the Shah Alam Stadium was lacking during the Malaysia-Arab Saudi World Cup and Asian Cup qualifying match which was forced to be abandoned due to crowd trouble.

Shah Alam district police chief ACP Shafien Mamat told theSun that the police with more than 500 personnel had taken the necessary security steps to prevent untoward incidents in the stadium.

"We had conducted body checks at the turnstile. In fact, we even deployed K9 units and I personally supervised checks before the fans were allowed in and confiscated some prohibited items," he said, adding that several undercover officers were also stationed among the crowd during the match.

Shafien didn't rule out that the pyro flares and fireworks could have been smuggled into the stadium in advance few days before the match.

"We had the crowd under control before that moment the fans created trouble," he added.

He confirmed that 11 local fans were detained in the aftermath of the fracas by the Ultra Malaya fans during the closing stage of the match.

"We would be distributing photos of the suspects tomorrow (Wednesday) and we hope to nab more people," he said.

Shafien said he would investigate claims that the Saudi fans were attacked by several local fans in the away supporters section.

"I will look into this matter. So far we haven't received any reports about the alleged attacks on the Saudi supporters," he added.