27/03/2026

SPORTS FRIDAY | MAR 27, 2026

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P ENANG FC are still awaiting a response from the Malaysian Football League (MFL) following allegations that Kuching City FC fielded an unregistered player as a substitute during their Super League match at City Stadium on March 15. State Youth, Sports and Health Committee chairman Daniel Gooi Zi Sen said they have lodged an official complaint with the Malaysia League (M-League) organising body. “The Code of Conduct clearly states that any team that fields ineligible players who are not registered or do not meet the qualifications for other reasons is automatically considered to have violated the regulations. “This matter is quite clear, as based on the starting list signed by the Match Commissioner, the name of the player fielded by Kuching City FC was not in the official list,” he said at a media con ference on the signing of the maiden collabora tion between Penang FC and the Football Association of Penang (FAP) for the 2026 season in Komtar yesterday. Kuching City had fielded Scott Woods in the TERENGGANU Cycling Team (TSG), a Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Continental outfit, continued to dominate the Tour of Thailand when its rider, Vadim Pronskiy, won Stage Three of the UCI 2.1 tour yesterday. The 27-year-old Kazakhstan rider clocked three hours, 16 minutes and 13 seconds to beat 113 riders from 19 other teams. TSG chief executive officer Nasiruddin Wan Idrus said the victory not only marked a new record for the team but also boosted their chance of emerging overall champions this year, having finished third overall last year. “The 141.6-kilometre (Stage Three) race from Nong Khai to Nong Saeng today was very challenging. Apart from the hot weather, the riders also had to navigate hilly and steep ter rain. “However, Pronskiy, with the help of his teammates, rode a determined race to emerge champion, in addition to donning the yellow jersey as overall stage leader and polka dot jer sey as the best climber (king of the mountains),” he said when contacted by Bernama . Meanwhile, Eduardo Sepulveda of China’s Li-Ning Star team finished second in Stage Three, followed by Daniel Whitehouse of Australia’s St George Continental Cycling Team. Nasiruddin said that TSG’s Pierre Barbier, who won the first two stages, also clinched the green jersey (best sprinter). Track queens race to silver MALAYSIA’S women’s track cycling squad made a strong start to the Asian Track Cycling Championships (ACC) 2026 campaign by clinching the silver medal in the women’s elite team sprint event at the Tagaytay City Velodrome in the Philippines on Wednesday. The national trio of Anis Amira Rosidi, Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri and Nur Alyssa Mohd Farid clocked 48.652 seconds (s) to secure the podium finish. The gold medal went to China’s team of Xuehuang Luo, Lijuan Wang and Liying Yuan, who recorded a time of 46.806s. Meanwhile, the national men’s elite sprint SHORTS TSG reign supreme

Panthers cry foul Allegations of an unregistered player spark tension after Penang’s clash with Kuching City, with MFL under pressure to act

main Penang FC squad in the future,” he said. Gooi said player selection would be held from today until Sunday, starting at 4pm, at Pitch A and A1 of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), and welcomed local players to attend the sessions. Meanwhile, he also announced that Penang football supporters aged 60 and above whose birthday is in April can watch the Challenge Cup final against Sabah FC at the City Stadium on April 4 for free. He said those eligible only need to present their identity cards at the stadium entrance for verification. – Bernama Women archers deliver in Bangkok NATIONAL compound archery squad coach Zulfadhli Ruslan praised the great performance by the national women archers who managed to con tribute a bronze medal at the 2026 Asian Cup Archery Championship (Stage 1) in Bangkok, Thailand. According to him, his squad not only managed to contribute a bronze medal but also managed to crack the national record for the women’s team compound event. “My assistant coach and I have been focusing a lot on the women’s team to improve their perform ance after the failure at the SEA Games and thank God we can see the results in this tournament starting with a new national record and a bronze medal in the elimination rounds. “We will continue to monitor their performance so that we can continue to improve in other tour naments,”he said when contacted by Bernama yes terday. Meanwhile, Zulfadhli was also proud of the per formance of national senior archer Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh who successfully advanced to the final of the individual event. “We can see that Fatin has successfully made a comeback after not being outstanding at the last SEA Games with several changes in technique and equipment. “So we can see a good change in terms of arch ery and she managed to equal the national record she set three years ago. She even managed to advance to the final of the individual event,” he said. The compound mixed archery team delivered an excellent performance to advance to the final yesterday. Malaysia, represented by Mohd Juwaidi Marzuki and Fatin Nurfatehah Mat Salleh, over came Singapore’s Erwan Zulfaqar Salamat Madeleine Xue Li Ong 154-152. Juwaidi-Fatin Nurfatehah will face India’s Chikitha Taniparthi-Rajat Chauhan in the final, after the Indian duo defeated Kazakhstan’s Viktoriya Lyan-Bunyod Mirzametov 157-153. The national recurve mixed team of Ku Nurin Afiqah Ku Ruzaini and Chern Xin Quik saw their campaign end in the quarterfinals. The Malaysian pair lost 3-5 to Mongolia’s Oyun Erdene Baasandorj-Otgonbold Baatarkhuyag. Meanwhile, when asked to comment on the performance of the national men’s compound squad, Zulfadhli admitted to being a little disap pointed when they failed to achieve the set target. “For the first game of the year, I can say that the performance was not encouraging for the men’s compound team, which we expect to be in th e top 4 in every Asian tournament, but this time they lost in the early rounds today. “I will review where the men’s team went wrong to prepare for the next game,” he said. – Bernama

Earlier, Gooi, who is also the Penang FC man ager, announced the first collaboration with FAP to manage and develop the Youth Cup (Under 18) and President’s Cup (Under-20) teams for the 2026 season in strengthening the football devel opment ecosystem in Penang. Under this initiative, he said Penang FC would provide the overall budget, while FAP would be fully responsible for the management and opera tions of the two teams. “FAP will play a crucial role in identifying, developing and showcasing talented local play ers who have the potential to be roped into the

match that saw them defeat Penang FC 1-0. Following that, the Panthers on March 17 said in a statement that they had submitted an official complaint to MFL after the matter went viral on social media. On March 18, Kuching City chief executive officer Iswandi Ali Hassan explained that the 20 player list sent on match day was supposed to have Woods’ name, while Danial Amier’s was supposed to be omitted. However, due to a tech nical glitch, Woods’ name was left out, and that of Danial Amier, who was then still in Kuching, was included.

TSG’s Vadim Pronskiy (front) celebrates after crossing the finish line to win Stage Three of the UCI 2.1 Tour of Thailand yesterday. – @Terengganucyclingteam TSG/Facebook

Zonis (44.405s) were defeated in the bronze medal race by Hong Kong riders Tsz Chun Mok, Cheuk Hei To and Tsun Ho Yung, who clocked 43.741s.

squad fell short in their bid to secure the bronze medal in the same event. Mohd Akmal Nazimi Jusena, Muhammad Ridwan Sahrom and Muhammad Fadhil Mohd

Harimau Malaya eye rankings boost in Vietnam HARIMAU MALAYA defender Daniel Ting has stressed that the national squad remain determined to secure victory in their final AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers match against Vietnam, despite the game having no bearing on Malaysia’s qualification hopes. grabs and we want to build those points again to go back up the rankings,” he said in a video shared by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) with the media yesterday. He added that the team’s preparations are currently progressing well, with all players showing strong commitment after regrouping for the match.

want to win and everyone’s happy to represent their country so only positive vibes I would say,” he said. The Ratchaburi FC player also described his experience competing in the AFC Champions League Two (ACL2) as an added advantage that could help elevate the team’s performance. The national squad are currently undergoing training in Bangkok, until March 27 before travelling for their final AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers match against Vietnam at Thien Truong Stadium in Ninh Binh on March 31. – Bernama

He said every match carries its own significance, particularly in collecting FIFA ranking points to improve the team’s standing on the world stage. “Every game we want to win. Of course, it might not matter for the points and qualification and all that thing. “But regardless there’s still Fifa points up for

“Yeah, I think good, good. Like I say, we haven’t had a camp for a few months so I’ve not seen a lot of the boys for a long time so it’s nice to see everyone. “I think even with the points situation, of course playing for your country you always