From Ibrahim M Ahmad
Former prime minister Najib Razak might well be watching his last football match as a free man when his beloved Manchester United take on arch enemy Liverpool on Tuesday.
With the odds clearly stacked against him, he must be feeling as confident as good ol’ Harry Maguire.
Like the hapless Red Devils, Najib’s team lacks a proper defence.
Some very angry referees (VAR) have called out various infringements committed by allegedly underperforming players, resulting in their withdrawal with no decent substitutes in sight due to another shambolic transfer window.
That decision has left the United captain’s namesake, Hisyam Maguire, the rather impossible task of defending his team’s goal all on his own.
Hisyam has threatened not to run or tackle during the match, drawing comparisons with the United captain’s performance over the past year or so.
To add insult to injury, the very busy body (or council) of the governing national players union issued a damning statement last week threatening disciplinary action against allegedly underperforming squad members.
On Sunday night, Zaid Ibrahimovic, one of Hisyam Maguire’s former teammates, challenged the union president to restate her position.
This comes after the football association’s president revealed he was not in possession of a report into suspected match-fixing prepared and submitted by the national anti-graft body to him several months earlier.
As a result, he was unable to recall whether he had read the report and what its findings were, he said.
Meanwhile, a global audience impatiently awaits the start of the game tomorrow.
Many, noting the performance of the two teams in recent times, believe the outcome to be a foregone conclusion, and have already begun to celebrate.
Others, suspicious of match-fixing, believe those “cell-ebrations” might be premature.
Whichever side you may be on, enjoy the match.
Editor’s note: Manchester United play Liverpool at Old Trafford in the English Premier League later tonight. The match begins at 3am (Tuesday). - FMT
Ibrahim M Ahmad is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
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