COMMENT | Just when we thought a controversial matter had been put to rest, it is resurrected in the name of justification. It hardly matters if explanations fail to resonate with the people, as long as the man holding the microphone gets his say.

In the process, some salvage whatever pride is left, but most end up with egg on their faces.

Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail’s attempt over the weekend to “present the correct picture” in the granting of citizenship to seven foreign footballers last year only deepened the cracks.

Speaking in Alor Setar, he claimed the government’s role ended once their citizenships were “lawfully granted”, and that eligibility to play was a matter for the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and the International Federation of Association Football (Fifa), thus reviving an issue that brought so much agony and pain to Malaysians last year.

Saifuddin drew a thick line: citizenship on one side, football eligibility on the other. But even such lines...