MIC strategy director S Vell Paari has hit out at PAS Youth over its criticism against national football coach K Rajagobal who blamed his team's disastrous Japanese tour on the fact that his players were fasting.

Vell Paari said that Rajagobal had no intention of insulting Islam and that PAS Youth had misconstrued his statement.

"It is simple logic that an athlete who is fasting will not be able to perform at his or her optimal. Football is such a demanding sport and endurance for 90 minutes is no simple task.

"When one is not able to rehydrate or consume food to provide energy, the performance level would be affected.
"What more when our footbal team consists of nearly 100 percent Muslim players," he said in a press release today.

Vell added that the recent heightened sense of sensitivity by certain quarters is appalling.

"It seems that some quarters are hell-bent on dividing Malaysians further during this holy month," he said.

'Rude excuse'
Yesterday, PAS Youth Arts, Culture and Sports bureau deputy chief Fadhil Osman called Rajagobal "rude" for his explanation that the national team defeats were due to fasting.

He claimed that  the excuse was only to cover Rajagobal's own weaknesses in the coaching of the national team.

Fadhil pointed out that the World Cup 2010 and the London Olympic 2012 qualifiers fell during the month of Ramadan and there were Middle Eastern and African teams with mostly Muslim players who were able to perform despite fasting.

"The same applies to league players such as in the English Premier League, the Spanish Premiera Liga and Bundesliga that also have many Muslim players but they continue to train as usual," he said yesterday.

Fadhil urged Rajagobal to retract his statement and re-look at the national team's training system and playing strategy.

"Rearrange the friendly match schedules and play with teams that are suitable for the national squads, not lower class clubs that do not help improve the national team's quality of playing or their standing.

Malaysia's national football team was recently defeated 2-0 by division one club Shimizu S-Pulse in Japan and 5-0 by Shonan Bellmare on top of another 5-0 defeat by division two club Tokyo Verdy.