Five Singaporean gamers who were bound for the finals of an international tournament for a popular multiplayer online game had to pull out after two of them were denied leave of absence from their polytechnics and one of them from National Service (NS). The episode led some members of the gaming community to question whether there should be more support for gamers who are good enough to compete on the world stage.

Many supporters took to social networking sites Monday to apologise for the actions of the group of hooligans, that had targeted a section of Vietnamese supporters. A number of fans even posted photos of those allegedly responsible for the violence. They also urged authorities to take action against the perpetrators of the violence, saying that the incident has sullied the image of Malaysian football fans.

If Vincent Subramaniam and Jan Poulsen were sacked after failing to get past the group stage of the biennial regional showpiece – and losing to Malaysia in the group, why should Stange be given a stay of execution? For the 66-year-old German to see out his first and last competitive regional campaign was already remarkable. A poor AFC Asian Cup qualifying campaign could have seen him being given the boot by more impatient football associations.

Sources said the German was involved in a bust-up over tactics with a player during a friendly defeat and that the incident sparked a growing divide in the dressing room. Accusations of favouritism and puzzling strategies followed and several key players were so upset that they voiced their displeasure during a feedback session with Football Association of Singapore (FAS) general secretary Winston Lee in October.

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin is upset with the Singapore authorities for allegedly barring Malaysian football fans from entering the country to watch Malaysia’s AFF Suzuki Cup 2014 match against Myanmar at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Sunday. Khairy also questioned the presence of a large number of Myanmar fans who had also brought along a huge flag of the country into the stadium.