Selangor’s former Aussie players cry foul

The “most deserving” players in the Selangor football team won’t be getting their rewards, but the others will still get theirs.

That is what David Mitchell, Josip Biskic, Mehmet Durakovic must be feeling after news broke out that members of the 1995-Malaysia Cup winning team will be rewarded with an apartment each at a special ceremony yesterday.

Though the reward is 27 years late, this “better late than never” case doesn’t even apply to them.

The aggrieved foreign trio still remember that day more than a quarter of a century ago.

It was a Saturday evening and they were told that the team would get a special reward if they beat Pahang in the final of the prestigious Malaysia Cup. It was said that the Selangor team were promised a piece of land about 40 acres.

And the three Australians were all involved in getting Selangor the match winner against a formidable Pahang side who had great players like Dollah Salleh, Zainal Abidin Hassan and Anuar Abu Bakar.

In the first minute of sudden death extra time, Biskic took the corner, Durakovic flicked the ball on to Mitchell who drove it into the net. 1-0 to Selangor who ended a nine-year drought for the Malaysia Cup title.

Mitchell, 60, is sad that he and his Aussie compatriots’ efforts have not been recognised by Selangor.

The foreign players felt there is no fair play by Selangor FC when only their “local teammates” will be given “Selangorku apartments.” in Kajang.

However, Selangorku housing units are meant only for Malaysian citizens.

“We are linked to this WhatsApp group where we were told about the first ceremony, but the foreigners didn’t need to come.

“So, we got a bit worried and started asking questions,” said Mitchell.

“It was said they are going to have a meeting about our situation.

“We were a part of the team and all three foreigners were instrumental in scoring the winning goal, so it’s only fair that we are gifted with something of equal value as the rest.

“If this was happening in Australia, it would be an act of discrimination, even bordering on racism!”

Josip is disappointed by the lack of response from Selangor as they waited 27 years for their reward.

“When we played for Selangor, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves as foreigners to perform as a team. We truly played with our hearts and souls for Selangor,” said Biskic.

“We viewed each other as equals and were promised the reward as a team. So, while we are happy to see the locals get their fair share of the reward, we don’t understand why we’ve been left out?

“Why are we forgotten? Why have we been treated differently?

“We won the Malaysia Cup as a team, therefore, we should be awarded as a team. The state government need to hold up their part of the deal, follow through on what was promised to us so many years ago because it’s the right and fair thing to do!”

Selangor FC are expected to respond to the Timesport report at today’s special ceremony where the players of the triumphant 1995 team will receive mock keys to their apartments. It’s learnt that instead of land, they are now given apartments.

NST