Football fans in Malaysia hurled racist abuse at a Nigerian player during a match on Feb. 27, The New Straits Times reported.

Called a 'monkey' by fans of opposing team

Ifedayo Omosuyi, a striker for Selangor FC, was called a "monkey" by fans of the opposing team, Kuala Lumpur United FC (KL United FC), who had gathered outside the Shah Alam Stadium in Selangor to show their support and set off flares as the two rivals in Kuala Lumpur squared off.

Under Malaysia's Movement Control Order (MCO), bystanders and supporters are banned from attending sporting events, according to The Malay Mail.

The match ended 0-0 during regulation time and went into a penalty shoot-out.

Omosuyi was one of his team's two players to score against KL United FC, with the other being Singaporean defender Safuwan Baharudin.

KL United FC won the match 4-2 on penalties eventually.

Caring Cup to drum up support for KL teams

The irony surrounding this case of racism stemmed from the stated purpose of the Caring Cup, with this year's event being the inaugural edition.

The Caring Cup was introduced for the first time as part of the plan to drive up interest among Kuala Lumpur residents, especially among the youths, to support the teams.

The Caring Cup has been slated to be a yearly pre-season match and would be treated as a charity match where remaining proceeds from sponsors –- after deducting the cost of hosting the event -– would be donated to the community.

Not the first time members of the Selangor FC team have received racist abuse

However, this was not the first time members of the Selangor FC team have received racist abuse.

Previously in March 2020, the left-back player of Selangor FC, K. Prabakaran, was called "keling" on social media after the team drew 1-1 with Perak FC, according to The Star.

Selangor FC's former coach, B. Sathianathan, was also accused of selecting the team based on ethnicity,

In response, the CEO of the Malaysian Football League (MFL), Abdul Ghani, said then:

"Teams need to be proactive in combating this menace, the teams can monitor so provocations on social media don’t go overboard.

The teams can and should lodge official reports to the relevant authorities. I hope this case will not be dragged on as it’s a very sensitive issue."

Separately, the deputy president of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), Mohd Yusoff Mahadi, added:

"This is appalling and shocking... we are in the age of professional football where we have professional coaches and players in our league and they are picked based on their abilities, not because of other factors like race.

We are a multiracial country and we have players from different races even in the national team, so I really think these racial abuses should stop."

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Top photos via Selangor FC Facebook