ONGOING BASHING: Some of the comments posted on YouTube.KUALA LUMPUR: Comments and criticism are flying in fast and furious on the incident where a Kelantan footballer had allegedly assaulted a customer at a hypermarket in Shah Alam on Monday.
The incident involved Kelantan’s Nigerian defender Obinna Nwaneri, who had punched a customer at the hypermarket following a verbal disagreement where the latter had accused Nwaneri of jumping queue. (see video below)
The whole incident was captured on the hypermarket’s CCTV security camera and the clip was posted on YouTube.
Since it was posted yesterday, the YouTube video has garnered almost 10,000 hits and numerous comments.
The majority of the commenters, who posted on the social-media sharing site as well as on www.malaysiandigest.com, expressed anger at the player, whom they believed did not have to resort to violence.
Some also called for Nwaneri to be sacked by the Kelantan team and deported.
"Deport this undesirable back where he came from," wrote one commenter. "What is disgusting is that the cashier doesn’t call security and served the offending person first.
"No one also came to help. Malaysians are weak and soft. The Kelantan team should be very ashamed of themselves if they’re willing to have someone like this as a team member."
Another commenter, who identified himself as Sharif Zainal, wrote that he was disappointed with the behaviour shown by the footballer.
"I am not Malaysian, but I and many others support the disappointment and disgust observed in the other comments and don’t believe there should be any reasonable ground for such shameful behaviour.
"Let’s hope that this one isn’t brushed under the carpet. The authorities should consider strong, swift action for this blatant disregard of the law and serious lack of common courtesy shown to the victim. Please note, not all foreigners act in such a pooor way," he wrote.
Another commenter, identified as Casey, said no one should be above the law.
"Malaysian society cannot condone violence as it was clearly shown in the video who the guilty person is. Let the law come down hard on him. I thank Nwaneri’s teammate for intervening, or else the victim would have suffered more harm," he wrote.
Malaysian Digest reader James wrote: "A foreigner on a work permit in our country should be aware of the consequences of improper conduct. I expect severe action from the Kelantan football officials, He deserves to be sacked and deported."
An unidentified commenter wrote that violence was unnecessary in this instance.
"Even if we jump queue, surely there’s no reason to get involved in a fistfight. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Peace."
The victim, Faizaly Abd Rais, 45, had claimed that Nwaneri had cut a queue at the payment counter of the hypermarket, which led to the former reprimanding the player.
Faizaly claimed that following a verbal disagreement, the player then delivered a blow to his chest and left him reeling. He claimed that only a timely intervention from Nwaneri’s teammate prevented the incident from escalating further.
Both parties have since lodged police reports on the incident. Kelantan team manager Azman Ibrahim has remained non-committal on the issue and said they are leaving the matter in police’s hands first before proceeding any further on their end.
Faizaly meanwhile, has asked for action to be taken against Nwaneri by both the authorities and the football team officials. He also wants the Kelantan Football Association to sack the player.
News of the incident was also reported in English daily The Star and broadcast on Hitz.FM.
Nwaneri played a starring role in Kelantan’s Malaysia Cup match against the Armed Forces in Selayang yesterday, scoring the equalising goal in the 87th minute.
