The Malaysia Football Association have apologised to Chelsea following the London club's complaint over anti-semitic abuse directed at midfielder Yossi Benayoun.
But the statement from the Malaysian FA plays down the incident which saw the Israel international jeered every time he touched the ball during a recent friendly in Kuala Lumpur.
'The FA of Malaysia would like to strongly register that we do not condone any form of racism in football,' the statement read.
'If such an incident did happen we would like to apologise to the player concerned and also to Chelsea FC.
'From our initial observations, if such an incident took place, it would have involved a small section of spectators at the match. This surely does not reflect the feelings of the majority of fans in this football-loving country.'
Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country and has no diplomatic ties with Israel.
The Israeli was barracked every time he touched the ball during the game against a Malaysia XI watched by 84,980 spectators at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium last Thursday and agency reports from the region immediately after stated it was anti-semitic in nature.
When briefing the media after the match, Chelsea suggested the abuse was a consequence of a bad tackle by the Blues midfielder but after reviewing the incident fully, the London club subsequently decided to lodge a formal complaint.
They then released a strongly worded statement concerning the alleged incidents.
'We believe Yossi was subjected to anti-semitic abuse by a number of supporters at the game,' the club said. 'Such behavior is offensive, totally unacceptable and has no place in football.'
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