2015 Malay Dignity rally, Background
In 2015, two years after general elections in Malaysia, Malaysia was faced with multiple issues and controversies which threatened the premiership of Najib Razak. Ringgit Malaysia, the nation's currency, fell to a 17-year low due to falling oil prices. There was a corruption scandal involving a government super fund called 1Malaysia Development Berhad and a series of exposes by online investigative blogs, namely Sarawak Report and major news portal The Wall Street Journal, claiming that money was being siphoned off from the fund into personal accounts of Najib and his close relations.


2015 Malay Dignity rally, Background
Suspicion was heightened by the removal of Abdul Gani Patail, the Attorney General of Malaysia who was part of the task force investigating the 1MDB scandal, and reshuffling of second Najib cabinet which involved the dropping of his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin and four other ministers. The Public Accounts Committee investigating the 1MDB scandal was also suspended indefinitely with the promotion of four of its members to Deputy Ministers by Najib.


2015 Malay Dignity rally, Background
The subsequent events led Bersih, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which promotes electoral reform, to hold a "Bersih rally" in August 2015, called Bersih 4. Frustrated with these rallies which it regarded as undermining the capability of Najib Razak to lead the nation, the President of PESAKA, Tan Sri Mohd Ali Mohd Rustam organised the United People's rally.


2015 Malay Dignity rally, Background, Himpunan Maruah Melayu
Himpunan Maruah Melayu (more popularly known as the 'Red Shirts') was a rally aiming to defend the special rights of the Malays. It was led by the president of Malay NGOs' coalition, Dato Jamal Yunos. Its members represented 250 Malay NGOs. It proposed to assemble at five locations (initially seven, which included the Chinese-majority Low Yat Plaza) before joining the United People's Rally at Padang Merbok. The organisers of the United People's Rally, however, did not recognise nor acknowledge the presence of Himpunan Maruah Melayu.


2015 Malay Dignity rally, Rally plans and pre-rally incidents
Participants were to convene at 11am Wednesday at Bukit Bintang and march to Padang Merbok at 3pm. There were three rally check points:  Masjid Negara, Masjid Al Bukhary on Jalan Hang Tuah, and Kompleks Kraf on Jalan Conlay.


2015 Malay Dignity rally, Rally plans and pre-rally incidents
On Monday, 14 Sep, KL Mayor Mohd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz confirmed that KL City Hall had approved the permit application submitted by PESAKA on 8 Sep to use Padang Merbok as the rally venue.


2015 Malay Dignity rally, Rally plans and pre-rally incidents
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar also declared the gathering as legal under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012. He said the police would deploy enough manpower to help secure the safety and security of everyone in Kuala Lumpur.


2015 Malay Dignity rally, Rally plans and pre-rally incidents
In the run-up to the “red shirt” rally, Kota Bharu UMNO division chief Mohd Fatmi Che Salleh made a speech and led a group of UMNO members as they burned effigies of DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang and of DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.


2015 Malay Dignity rally, Rally plans and pre-rally incidents
It was earlier reported that 773 hawkers and 500 shop owners in Petaling Street had decided to suspend operations on 16 Sep as a precaution, to avoid anything untoward. while Otai Reformasi have pledged to send 500 members to monitor the rally.


2015 Malay Dignity rally, Rally plans and pre-rally incidents
10,000 masks were distributed for rally goers due to worsening haze conditions. 3,000 PESAKA members and 20,000 members of Armed Forces Veterans Associations were deployed to ensure safety at Padang Merbok.


2015 Malay Dignity rally, Rally incidents
Incidents of violence were seen involving protesters and police personnel, after the rally participants tried to force their way into Petaling Street or Chinatown. A couple of red shirted protestors and police personnel were injured after the protestors refused to disperse and tried to break through the police barricades. The police Federal Reserve Unit began using water cannons to disperse the protesters, after the red shirts began throwing rocks and water bottles at them.


2015 Malay Dignity rally, Aftermath
Abdul Rahman Dahlan declared the rally as a success. Jamal Md Yunos alleged that provocation from DAP and pro-opposition members caused the incidents in Petaling Street.


2015 Malay Dignity rally, Aftermath
Political parties from both sides of the political spectrum such as Democratic Action Party, Malaysian Chinese Association and Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia filed police reports regarding racial statements by the organisers. Prime Minister Najib called for an investigation regarding the clashes between the police and protesters.


2015 Malaysia Cup
The 2015 Malaysia Cup (Malay: Piala Malaysia 2015) was the 89th edition of Malaysia Cup tournament organised by the Football Association of Malaysia.


2015 Malaysia Cup
The 2015 Malaysia Cup began on August with a preliminary round. A total of 16 teams took part in the competition. The teams were divided into four groups, each containing four teams. The group leaders and runners-up teams in the groups after six matches qualified to the quarterfinals.


2015 Malaysia Cup
Pahang were the defending champions, having beaten Johor Darul Takzim on a penalty shootout 5–3 in last season's final, but they were eliminated by the eventual winner, Selangor, in the semi-finals. Selangor won the trophy after beating Kedah 2–0.


2015 Malaysia Cup
This edition also marked the last appearance of LionsXII in this competition.


2015 Malaysia Cup, Format
In the competition, the top 10 teams from 2015 Malaysia Super League were joined by the top 4 teams from 2015 Malaysia Premier League. The remaining two teams from 2015 Malaysia Super League and the team who finished 5th and 6th place in the 2015 Malaysia Premier League competed in the playoffs for the remaining 2 spots. The teams were drawn into four groups of four teams.


2015 Malaysia Cup, Round and draw dates
The draw for the 2015 Malaysia Cup was held on 27 August 2015 at the Hilton Petaling Jaya with the participating team coaches and captains in attendance.


2015 Malaysia Cup, Knockout stage
In the knockout phase, teams played against each other over two legs on a home-and-away basis, except for the one-match final. The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:


2015 Malaysia Cup, Knockout stage, Quarter-finals
The first legs were played on 24 November, and the second legs were played on 28 November 2015.


2015 Malaysia Cup, Knockout stage, Semi-finals
The first legs were played on 2 December, and the second legs were played on 6 December 2015.


2015 Malaysia Cup, Knockout stage, Final
The final will be played on 12 December 2015 at the Shah Alam Stadium in Shah Alam, Selangor.


2015 Malaysia Cup Final
The 2015 Malaysia Cup Final was a football match which was played on 12 December 2015, to determine the champion of the 2015 Malaysia Cup. It was the final of the 89th edition of the Malaysia Cup, competition organised by the Football Association of Malaysia.


2015 Malaysia Cup Final
The final was played between Selangor and Kedah. Selangor won the cup after beating Kedah 2–0 with a brace from Ahmad Hazwan Bakri.


2015 Malaysia Cup Final, Road to final
Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first.


2015 Malaysia Cup group stage
The 2015 Malaysia Cup group stage featured 16 teams. The teams were drawn into fourth groups of four, and played each other home-and-away in a round-robin format. The top two teams in each group advanced to the 2015 Malaysia Cup quarter finals.


2015 Malaysia Cup knockout stage
The 2015 Malaysia Cup knockout phase began on 24 November 2015 and concluded on 12 December 2015 with the final at Shah Alam Stadium in Selangor, Malaysia to decide the champions of the 2015 Malaysia Cup. A total of 8 teams competed in the knockout phase.


2015 Malaysia Cup knockout stage, Round and draw dates
The draw for the 2015 Malaysia Cup was held on 27 August 2015 at the Hilton Petaling Jaya with the participating team coaches and captains in attendance.


2015 Malaysia Cup knockout stage, Format
The knockout phase involved the eight teams which qualified as winners and runners-up of each of the eight groups in the group stage.


2015 Malaysia Cup knockout stage, Format
Each tie in the knockout phase, apart from the final, was played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level, the away goals rule was applied, i.e. the team that scored more goals away from home over the two legs advanced. If away goals were also equal, then thirty minutes of extra time was played.


2015 Malaysia Cup knockout stage, Format
The away goals rule was again applied after extra time, i.e. if there were goals scored during extra time and the aggregate score was still level, the visiting team advanced by virtue of more away goals scored. If no goals were scored during extra time, the tie was decided by penalty shoot-out. In the final, which was played as a single match, if scores were level at the end of normal time, extra time was played, followed by penalty shoot-out if scores remained tied.


2015 Malaysia Cup knockout stage, Format
The mechanism of the draws for each round was as follows:


2015 Malaysia Cup knockout stage, Quarter-finals
The first legs were played on 24 November, and the second legs were played on 28 November 2015.


2015 Malaysia Cup knockout stage, Semi-finals
The first legs were played on 2 December, and the second legs were played on 6 December 2015.


2015 Malaysia Cup knockout stage, Final
The final will be played on 12 December 2015 at the Shah Alam Stadium in Selangor, Malaysia.


2015 Malaysia FA Cup
The 2015 Malaysia FA Cup (2015 XOX Piala FA) was the 26th season of the Malaysia FA Cup, a knockout competition for Malaysia's state football association and clubs. Pahang were the defending champions after beating FELDA United 2–1 the previous season.


2015 Malaysia FA Cup
34 teams entered this year's competition. Four teams entered at the 1st stage with two clubs making the round of 32. The draw for the competition was made on 14 December 2014 with games starting in February 2015. Also starting in 2015, the finalists of the previous Piala FA have not been permitted with byes.


2015 Malaysia FA Cup
Singapore's LionsXII won the Piala FA title for the first time after defeating two-time winners, Kelantan FA in the final with a score of 3–1. This marks the first time a foreign team has won the competition since its inception in 1990.


2015 Malaysia FA Cup, Matches, Round of 32
The first round commenced on 27, 28 February & 2 March 2015.


2015 Malaysia FA Cup, Matches, Round of 16
The second round commenced on 17, 18 & 21 March 2015.


2015 Malaysia FA Cup, Matches, Quarter-finals, First leg
The first leg matches commenced on 7 & 8 April 2015.


2015 Malaysia FA Cup, Matches, Quarter-finals, Second leg
The second leg matches commenced on 21 & 22 April.


2015 Malaysia FA Cup Final
The 2015 Malaysia FA Cup Final was a football match which was played on 26 May 2015, to determine the champion of the 2015 Malaysia FA Cup.


2015 Malaysia FA Cup Final
The final was played between Kelantan FA and LionsXII. LionsXII won 3–1 to win their first Malaysia FA Cup title.


2015 Malaysia FAM League
The 2015 Malaysia FAM League (referred to as the FAM League) is the 63rd season of the FAM League since its establishment in 1952. The league is currently the third level football league in Malaysia. Kuantan are the defending champions and currently play in the second level of Malaysian football, Malaysia Premier League.


2015 Malaysia FAM League, Rule changes
The FAM League introduced the "home grown players" rule, which aims to encourage the development of young footballers at FAM League clubs. The new rule required clubs to name at least five U-21 players in their squad.


2015 Malaysia FAM League, Teams
The following teams will be participate in the 2015 Malaysia FAM League. In order by the number given by FAM:-


2015 Malaysia FAM League, Team summaries, Personnel and kits
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold
The 2015 Malaysia Masters Grand Prix Gold was the first grand prix gold and grand prix tournament of the 2015 BWF Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix. The tournament was held at the Stadium Perpaduan in Kuching, Malaysia from 13–18 January 2015 and had a total purse of $120,000.


2015 Malaysia Premier League
The 2015 Liga Premier (English: 2015 Premier League) was the 12th season of the Liga Premier, the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia.


2015 Malaysia Premier League
The season was held from January and concluded in August 2015.


2015 Malaysia Premier League
The Liga Premier champions for 2015 season was Kedah. The champions and runners-up were both promoted to 2016 Liga Super.


2015 Malaysia Premier League, Teams
A total of 12 teams are contesting the league, including 8 sides from the 2014 season, two promoted from the 2014 Malaysia FAM League and two relegated from 2014 Liga Super.


2015 Malaysia Premier League, Teams
On 27 May 2014, Kuala Lumpur earned promotion from the 2014 Malaysia FAM League. They returned to the second division after being absent for a year. This was followed by Kuantan. The two teams replace Perlis and PBAPP who were all relegated to the 2015 Liga FAM.


2015 Malaysia Premier League, Teams
T-Team and PKNS were relegated from 2014 Liga Super. They are replacing PDRM and Felda United who get promotion to 2015 Liga Super.


2015 Malaysia Premier League, Team summaries, Foreign players
The number of foreign players is restricted to four per Malaysian League team. A team can use four foreign players on the field in each game, including at least one player from the AFC country.


2015 Malaysia Premier League, Team summaries, Foreign players
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been registered to the official Liga Premier. Players may hold more than one FIFA and non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Malaysia Premier League, Transfers
For recent transfers, see List of Malaysian football transfers 2015


2015 Malaysia Super League
The 2015 Liga Super (English: 2015 Super League) is the 12th season of the Liga Super, the top-tier professional football league in Malaysia.


2015 Malaysia Super League
The season was held from 31 January and concluded in 22 August 2015.


2015 Malaysia Super League
The Liga Super champions for 2015 was Johor Darul Ta'zim.


2015 Malaysia Super League, Teams
A total of 12 teams compete in the 2015 season which includes the top 10 teams that participated in the 2014 season and champions and runners-up of the 2014 Liga Premier.


2015 Malaysia Super League, Teams
T-Team and PKNS were relegated at the end of the 2014 Liga Super season after finishing in the bottom place of the league table.


2015 Malaysia Super League, Teams
2014 Liga Premier unbeaten champions PDRM and runners-up Felda United secured direct promotion to the Liga Super.


2015 Malaysia Super League, Teams, Personnel and sponsoring
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Malaysia Super League, Awards, Monthly awards
The player of the month award will be given monthly. It were given by Professional Footballers Association of Malaysia (PFAM) starting May 2015. Five players will be pick each month by PFAM and will be shown on their official websites. The player will be voted in a survey and the player with the most vote will be picked as PFAM Player Of The Month.


2015 Malaysia Super Series Premier
The 2015 Malaysia Super Series Premier was the third super series tournament of the 2015 BWF Super Series. The tournament took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from March 31–April 5, 2015 and had a total purse of $500,000. A qualification was held to fill four places in all five disciplines of the main draws.


2015 Malaysia Super Series Premier Qualification
Qualification for 2015 Malaysia Super Series Premier was held on 31 March 2015.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix
The 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, formally titled the 2015 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix, was a Formula One motor race that was held on 29 March 2015 at the Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was the seventeenth running of the Malaysian Grand Prix as a World Championship event.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton came into the race leading the Drivers' championship by seven points over teammate Nico Rosberg, followed closely by Sebastian Vettel, a further three points adrift. Mercedes entered with a twenty-eight-point lead over Ferrari in the Constructors' championship campaign.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix
Hamilton secured pole position in a rain-soaked qualifying session, the 40th pole position in his career. Vettel won the race, having started from second place on the grid. It was the 40th victory of his career, and the first victory for Ferrari since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix. This was the first time since the 2006 United States Grand Prix that neither McLaren was classified.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Background
The race, held on 29 March 2015 with practice and qualifying sessions on the two preceding days, was the seventeenth running of the Malaysian Grand Prix, which had been part of the Formula One World Championship without interruption since 1999. A race sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, motorsport's governing body, had been held in Malaysia since the 1960s, with the first editions being run in Singapore, then part of the Malaysian Federation, before moving to the Shah Alam Circuit. With the arrival of the Formula One Grand Prix in 1999, the race was moved to the purpose-built Sepang International Circuit, where all editions have since been held. For sponsorship reasons, the race's official name was 2015 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Background
Going into the weekend, Lewis Hamilton was leading the Drivers' Championship, having won the first race ahead of his teammate Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel. He therefore had 25 points and held a seven-point advantage over Rosberg, with Vettel another three points behind. In the constructors' standings, Mercedes was on top, haven taken the maximum available 43 points from their 1–2 finish in Melbourne. Ferrari were second on 15 points, followed by Sauber with 14.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Background
Mercedes arrived at the second race of the season with maximum points from Australia, having finished first and second with third placed Sebastian Vettel half a minute down. Following their dominant performance, many commentators voiced fears that the sport might become even more one-sided and boring over the course of the 2015 season than it had been the previous year. Red Bull's team principal Christian Horner called for the FIA to step in and apply rule changes that would level the competition, stating: "The FIA, within the rules, have an equalisation mechanism and that needs to be looked at."


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Background
Red Bull subsequently threatened to leave the sport, should no measures be taken. While many commentators pointed out that Red Bull had enjoyed their own share of dominance in the prior years, Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone voiced understanding for the team, saying: "There is a rule that I think [former president] Max [Mosley] put in when he was there that in the event... that a particular team or engine supplier did something magic - which Mercedes have done - the FIA can level up things. They [Mercedes] have done a first class job which everybody acknowledges.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Background
We need to change things a little bit now and try to level things up a little bit." Mercedes' executive director Toto Wolff reacted to the calls by urging his rivals to "get your fucking head down and work to sort it out". McLaren driver Jenson Button also raised doubt over the practicality of rule changes, saying "There's nothing really to ban because it doesn't look like Mercedes are doing anything other teams aren't doing."


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Background
Bernie Ecclestone, speaking about Formula One's problems with journalists in Malaysia.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Background
Following criticism voiced by Red Bull, the future of engine supplier Renault was also a matter of debate. While Renault contemplated exiting the sport, another scenario that received media attention was a possible buy-out of the Toro Rosso team. The discussion about the future of the sport was additionally fuelled by the news that the German Grand Prix would be dropped from the 2015 calendar, due to a lack of financing. The exclusion of one of motorsport's most traditional events caused many to raise the question whether the same fate might await other traditional venues such as Monza.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Background
Fernando Alonso returned from his pre-season injury to take back his seat at McLaren, which had been filled by Kevin Magnussen at the previous race in Australia. Also returning was Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, who missed the previous race due to a back injury sustained during qualifying.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Background
Manor Marussia, who were able to field their cars for the first time in Malaysia, were under criticism after they failed to run their cars at the Australian Grand Prix, with Ecclestone saying they would need to pay for their travel expenses, which are usually covered by the commercial rights holder.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Background
As in the previous two years, Pirelli announced they would be supplying teams with the orange-banded hard compound tyre as the prime selection and the white-banded medium compound as the option selection for the event. The event also made use of Pirelli's two wet weather tyres, the green-banded intermediate and blue-banded full wet tyres.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Practice
Per the regulations for the 2015 season, three practice sessions were held, two 90-minute sessions on Friday and another one-hour session before qualifying on Saturday. Nico Rosberg set the fastest time in the first practice session on Friday morning, while championship leader Lewis Hamilton was sidelined due to engine problems. He recovered to take fastest time in the second session of the day, while Ferrari proved that they would be closer to their rivals in Sepang, coming within 0.4 seconds in both free practice sessions.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Practice
Fernando Alonso made his debut in the new McLaren, finishing 14th and 16th in the two Friday sessions respectively, outpacing teammate Jenson Button both times. Also debuting during free practice were Manor-Marussia, with both cars struggling to meet the time limit of 107%. Raffaele Marciello filled in for Sauber-regular Felipe Nasr during the first session.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Practice
During the third practice session on Saturday morning, both Mercedes drivers were once again fastest, with Rosberg setting the fastest time, while Ferrari was about half a second behind.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Qualifying
Qualifying consisted of three parts, 18, 15 and 12 minutes in length respectively, with five drivers eliminated from competing after each of the first two sessions. The first part of qualifying (Q1) got under way in the dry and sunny conditions; this was not the conditions that would favour McLaren as they were still off the pace of the midfield although they made progress. Jenson Button along with his returning teammate Fernando Alonso were separated by only a tenth of a second, but were 17th and 18th on the grid.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Qualifying
Joining them were the Manor-Marussia cars of Roberto Merhi and Will Stevens; Merhi recorded a time that was almost five seconds slower than Alonso, and Stevens failed to take to the circuit, while Felipe Nasr also failed to make it out of Q1, as he struggled for balance in his Sauber.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Qualifying
Clouds built up at the west of the circuit before Q2 and there was a traffic jam in the pit lane. A scramble for position started to be evident and only one driver – Nico Rosberg – managed a clean lap without traffic, as the rest of the field dealt with the thunderstorm that was warned to arrive during Q2 and started tripping up on each other. The biggest casualty of the session was Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen who got held up by Marcus Ericsson.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Qualifying
Räikkönen recorded a lap of 1:42.173, which was not fast enough to get into Q3 as rain started soon after. Joining Räikkönen were Pastor Maldonado, the Force Indias of Nico Hülkenberg and Sergio Pérez and the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz Jr., as they could not improve on their original lap times due to the conditions.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Qualifying
After a delay of half an hour, the cars returned to the circuit, with the majority of the remaining ten drivers on intermediate tyres, while Romain Grosjean, Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas initially surveyed the circuit on wets before switching to the intermediates. Ultimately, Hamilton took pole position by 0.074 seconds ahead of Vettel, with Rosberg third. They were followed by the Red Bull cars of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat, while Toro Rosso's young driver Max Verstappen took sixth place. The rest of the top ten was completed by Massa, Grosjean, Bottas and Ericsson. It was the 40th pole position of Hamilton's career. After qualifying, Romain Grosjean was found to have left the pit lane in a different position to the one he left the garage, and so he received a two place grid penalty dropping him to tenth on the grid.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Race
Temperatures on race day were very hot, with the track temperature at 61 °C (142 °F). Rain was possible, though less than in previous years, also due to the earlier starting time. Williams were hoping for a dry race, since qualifying showed they were still off the pace in wet conditions. Will Stevens, who missed qualifying due to a fuel system problem, was ultimately unable to participate in the race. Approximately 44,611 people attended the race.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Race
At the start, Lewis Hamilton got away well, while Nico Rosberg challenged Sebastian Vettel for second place, but the Ferrari was able to come out on top. Both Pastor Maldonado and Kimi Räikkönen suffered punctures on lap one after contact with Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Nasr respectively and had to come in for a new set of tyres. Vettel was able to stay with the Mercedes of Hamilton over the first few laps. On lap four, Marcus Ericsson braked too late and spun in turn one, retiring from the race and bringing out the safety car.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Race
All but seven cars went into the pits to change tyres, including both Mercedes drivers, while Sebastian Vettel stayed out. When racing resumed on lap seven, Vettel led Nico Hülkenberg, Romain Grosjean, Carlos Sainz Jr. and Sergio Pérez, with Hamilton the first of the cars who made pit stops right behind.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Race
Both Mercedes cars now made their way through the field, with Hamilton overtaking Hülkenberg for second position on the end of lap ten, now ten seconds down on race leader Vettel. Rosberg reached third position on lap 14, while Hamilton was unable to make significant gains on Vettel in front. The cars that had not used the safety car phase for their stops began to change tyres on lap 16, while Maldonado was handed a ten-second penalty for exceeding the safety car time.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Race
Meanwhile, the Red Bull cars showed signs of brake problems with brake dust exiting the wheels at the major braking points on both cars. Vettel came in for his first stop on lap 18, handing the lead back to Hamilton. Vettel rejoined in third place and began to close rapidly on second-placed Rosberg. Vettel made good use of his fresher tyres, overtaking Rosberg on lap 22 and setting out to do the same on Hamilton, shortly before the latter went into the pits for his second pit stop on lap 24.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Race
Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso retired due to engine problems on lap 21 while running in ninth place. With deteriorating front wing damage, Daniel Ricciardo let his teammate Daniil Kvyat through into eleventh place on the beginning of lap 26, only for Kvyat to be sent in a spin by Hülkenberg, who ran wide and hit the Red Bull in turn two. Both drivers were able to continue. The other Force India of Pérez sent Romain Grosjean's Lotus into a spin five laps later. Both Force India drivers were handed a ten-second penalty for their actions.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Race
Vettel made a pit stop for a second and final time on lap 38, handing the lead back to Hamilton, who came in for his final stop a lap later, emerging about twelve seconds behind Vettel in third place. His teammate Rosberg made a pit stop on lap 41, elevating Hamilton to second, who now started to close on Vettel. Jenson Button retired from the race on lap 40 due to a turbo failure, while Maldonado's bad day turned worse when he had to park his car suffering brake problems.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Race
Hamilton was unable to overcome the gap between himself and Vettel, leaving Vettel to take his 40th victory, the first since the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix and his first with Ferrari. Bottas was able to overtake his teammate Felipe Massa on the final lap, after both Williams drivers had an uneventful race to finish fifth and sixth respectively. It was Ferrari's first win since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari reacted emotionally to the victory, with Vettel unable to hold back tears on the podium. Speaking about the experience as a Ferrari driver, he told Eddie Jordan during the podium interview:


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
I remember when the gate opened in Maranello it was like a dream coming true. I remember the last time I was there was as a young kid watching Michael [Schumacher] over the fence driving around in the Ferrari and now I'm driving that very red car. It's incredible. The day today, the race, really spot on, the whole team was there, great strategy, great pace, we beat them fair and square [...].


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Second placed Lewis Hamilton conceded that Ferrari and Vettel "did a fantastic job this weekend" and that he had not expected them to be as quick as they were.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
The Ferrari team shared Vettel's enthusiasm, as they could be seen singing along to the Italian national anthem during the podium ceremony, led by team principal Maurizio Arrivabene. He later admitted he cried after receiving a congratulatory text message from Michael Schumacher's manager on behalf of his family. Comparisons between Vettel and Schumacher were omnipresent in the following days, with commentators pointing out that it took Vettel merely two races for his first win with the Scuderia, while Schumacher achieved a victory only in his seventh race. During the post-race press conference, Vettel expressed hope to emulate Schumacher's success at Ferrari and win the world championship.


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
The result was viewed as a welcome rebuttal of the fears of monotony voiced after the Australian Grand Prix. German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung declared Vettel's win was "the best the flagging sport could have hoped for".


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Controversy arose when Force India's Bob Fernley accused Manor Marussia of intentionally only running one car during qualifying and the race and urged the FIA to investigate the matter. Manor rejected these claims, with sporting director Graeme Lowdon saying "I can guarantee you if that car could have moved, it would have raced".


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Finishing seventh, Max Verstappen became the youngest driver to score World Championship points. Verstappen was quoted saying that it had been a "good day", while his father, former Formula One driver Jos Verstappen, commented: "I'm very pleased for what he has done today. I'm happy that he finished the race and the way he raced, he deserved it. I'm very proud."


2015 Malaysian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
As a result of the race, Vettel moved within three points of Hamilton in the Drivers' Championship, on 43 to 40 points. Rosberg followed in third with 33 points, 13 ahead of Felipe Massa. In the Constructors' Championship, Mercedes retained their lead at now 76 points, 24 clear of Ferrari, with Williams following in third on 30 points.


2015 Malaysian Open
The 2015 BMW Malaysian Open was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It is the 6th edition of the Malaysian Open and is an International tournament on the 2015 WTA Tour. The tournament took place from 28 February to 8 March 2015 at the Royal Selangor Golf Club. This tournament had been discontinued, but was restarted when the rights were bought off the tournament in Palermo, Italy. Caroline Wozniacki defeated Alexandra Dulgheru in the championship match for her 1st title of the year and 23rd of her career.


2015 Malaysian Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Malaysian Open, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pair received wildcard into the doubles main draw:


2015 Malaysian Open – Doubles
Tímea Babos and Chan Hao-ching were the defending champions, but Chan chose not to participate this year. Babos chose to play in Monterrey, but lost in the first round.


2015 Malaysian Open – Doubles
Liang Chen and Wang Yafan won the title over third seeded Yuliya Beygelzimer and Olga Savchuk with the score, 4–6, 6–3, [10–4].


2015 Malaysian Open – Singles
Donna Vekić was the defending champion, but chose not to participate this year.


2015 Malaysian Open – Singles
Caroline Wozniacki won the title, defeating Alexandra Dulgheru in the final, 4–6, 6–2, 6–1.


2015 Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur
The 2015 Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur was a men's professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the seventh edition of the tournament, and part of the 2015 ATP World Tour. It took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia between 28 September and 4 October 2015.


2015 Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wild cards into the singles main draw:


2015 Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following player received entry using a protected ranking into the singles main draw:


2015 Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received entry from the singles qualifying draw:


2015 Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2015 Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur – Doubles
Marcin Matkowski and Leander Paes were the defending champions, but Matkowski chose not to participate. Paes played alongside Grigor Dimitrov, but lost in the first round to Rameez Junaid and Jonathan Marray. Treat Huey and Henri Kontinen won the title, defeating Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram in the final, 7–6(7–4), 6–2.


2015 Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur – Singles
Kei Nishikori was the defending champion but chose not to participate this year. Three-time losing finalist Julien Benneteau did not participate either.


2015 Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur – Singles
David Ferrer won the title, defeating Feliciano López in the final 7–5, 7–5.


2015 Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur – Singles, Seeds
The top four seeds received a bye into the second round.


2015 Malaysian federal budget
The Malaysian federal budget for 2015 fiscal year was presented to the Dewan Rakyat by Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Najib Razak on Friday, 10 October 2014.


2015 Malaysian federal budget, Summary
Following are the highlights of the 2015 Budget themed, “BUDGET 2015: PEOPLE ECONOMY”, which was tabled by Prime Minister Najib Razak in Parliament.


2015 Malaysian federal budget, Total revenues and spending, Expenditures by budget function
These tables are in million MYR. The budget for the 2015 fiscal year (also demonstrating the basic budget structure) can be found below.


2015 Malaysian federal budget, Supplementary supply bill
On 23 March 2015, the Government tabled a supplementary supply bill to augment its Budget 2015 by an additional RM2.2 billion, some two months after the prime minister revised this. The Bill was tabled for the first reading after question time today by Deputy Finance Minister Chua Tee Yong. The bulk of the requested amount — RM1.2 billion — will be channelled to the Treasury’s consolidated fund, while the Education Ministry will be allocated with RM428 million. The Public Services Department will receive RM287 million and the Health Ministry, RM200 million.


2015 Malaysian federal budget, Supplementary supply bill
The Federal Territories Ministry and the Home Ministry will respectively get RM34 million and RM26 million. The Dewan Rakyat approved the Supplementary Supply Bill (2014) 2015 after it was debated at the committee level on 1 April 2015. The bill allocated a supplementary financial allocation of RM2,223,520,310 to several ministries as additional management expenditure for services.


2015 Malaysian federal budget, Supplementary supply bill
Last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak tabled a budget of RM273.9 billion, an increase of RM9.8 billion from 2014. He revised this in January following a sharp drop in global crude oil price and the devastating flood that ravaged the east coast states in the country. Despite announcing cuts to operating expenditure that could trim RM5.5 billion from government spending, Najib maintained that allocations for development totalling RM48.5 billion will be maintained.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix
The 2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix (formally the Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix) was the seventeenth (and penultimate round) of eighteen motorcycle races of the 2015 MotoGP season. It was held before a crowd of 88,832 people at the Sepang International Circuit in the Malaysian district of Sepang in Selangor on 25 October 2015. Dani Pedrosa of Honda won the 20-lap race after starting from pole position. Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo finished second and his teammate Valentino Rossi came in third. In the junior classes, Johann Zarco won the Moto2 race on a Kalex bike and KTM's Miguel Oliveira won in Moto3.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix
Pedrosa won the pole position by recording the fastest lap in qualifying and maintained his start line advantage going into the first corner. The race was, however, overshadowed by the three-lap duel for third place between Honda rider Marc Márquez and his rival Rossi as the two traded position several times per lap. The tension between the two was high when Márquez and Rossi duelled each other in Argentina and the Netherlands and Rossi accused Márquez of helping teammate Lorenzo in Australia which both riders denied. The duel ended with Márquez and Rossi colliding at fourteen on lap seven.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix
Although Rossi continued, Márquez fell from his bike and retired in the pit lane after remounting his bike. Pedrosa meanwhile led every lap to take his second victory of the season, his 28th in MotoGP and the 51st of his career by almost four seconds over Lorenzo. Rossi was issued three penalty points and was required to start from the rear of the grid at the season-ending Valencian Community Grand Prix since he had another penalty point from earlier in the season and he withdrew a subsequent appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport in December 2015.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix
In the junior classes, Thomas Lüthi started from pole position in Moto2 with a new class lap record. Lüthi and Zarco traded places on the first lap and then both riders were able to establish a small advantage at the front of the field. Zarco began closing up to Lüthi with seven laps left but Lüthi responded by seeing a pit board message that encouraged him to increase his pace.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix
Zarco however conserved the life of his tyres in the closing stages of the race and passed Lüthi at turn two on the final lap to win for the eighth time in the season. Niccolò Antonelli began the Moto3 race from pole position but got involved in a multi-rider duel which had the lead swapped hands in almost every lap of the round. In the end, Miguel Oliveira ended up drafting his teammate Brad Binder on the back straight and overtook him at the final corner. Oliviera fended Binder off to win his fifth race of the season. Danny Kent had the possibility to win the Riders' Championship at Sepang if he came fifth regardless where Oliviera came but was unable to do so when he took seventh.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix
The consequence of the race meant Lorenzo was now trailing Rossi by seven points in the Riders' Championship and Márquez retained third place despite his retirement. Pedrosa's victory allowed him to move into fourth after Andrea Iannone retired from a punctured radiator on the second lap of the race. In the Teams' Championship, Yamaha increased their unassailable lead to 200 points over Honda and Ducati retained third despite both their riders not reaching the end of the event. Tech 3 and Suzuki completed the top five. Yamaha still led the Constructors' Championship on 382 points; Honda and Ducati were second and third with one round left in the season.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Background
The 2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix was announced as part of MotoGP's 2015 schedule by the world governing body of motorcycle racing, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) in September 2014. It was the twenty-fifth consecutive Grand Prix to be held in Malaysia and the sixteenth straight race at the fifteen-turn 5.543 km (3.444 mi) Sepang International Circuit. The Grand Prix was the seventeenth scheduled round of the 2015 MotoGP season by FIM and was held on 25 October after two preceding days of practice and qualifying.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Background
With forest fires continuing to burn in neighboring Indonesia, heavy smog was a concern for the race. Unhealthy levels affected the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix two months earlier and Sepang International Circuit managing director Razlan Razali negotiated with MotoGP's promoter Dorna Sports and the International Road Racing Teams Association about shortening the meeting if required. It was later confirmed that the event would proceed without any restrictions due to the championship situation, and monitoring equipment was installed at the circuit to measure the local air quality.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Background
Coming into the race from Australia one week earlier, Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi was leading the Riders' Championship with 296 points and his nearest championship rival was teammate Jorge Lorenzo was a further eleven points behind in second. Repsol Honda's Marc Márquez placed third with 222 points and Andrea Iannone of Ducati followed in fourth with 188 points. Dani Pedrosa, the second Honda factory rider, rounded out the top five with 165 points. In the Teams' Championship, Yamaha MotoGP topped the standings with 581 points.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Background
Repsol Honda (392 points) and Ducati (341) were closer to each other in the battle for second while Tech 3 and Suzuki MotoGP completed the top five with 254 and 172 points respectively. Yamaha led the Constructors' Championship with 362 points: Honda, Ducati, Suzuki and Yamaha Forward followed in the next four placings with a respective 310, 237, 120 and 33 points accrued. 50 points were available for the final two rounds of the season which meant Rossi could win his eighth MotoGP championship in Sepang. Rossi needed to score fifteen more points than Lorenzo if the latter finished sixth or lower.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Background
The tension was high between Rossi and Márquez going into the weekend because the duo had engaged in a battle at the Argentine Grand Prix that left Márquez crashing out of the race after colliding with the rear of Rossi's bike and the Dutch TT later that year when the pair got involved in a duel for the win that ended in Rossi's favour despite a collision with Márquez at the track's final chicane on the final lap of the event.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Background
In the pre-race press conference, Rossi accused Márquez of aiding his championship rival Lorenzo in Australia which both riders denied. Rossi continued and stated his belief Márquez was not a fan of his when growing up, a comment that angered Márquez. Meanwhile, Pedrosa aimed to return to the podium after stating his happiness over his fifth-place finish at the Australian Grand Prix and wanted to give himself the best opportunity of securing a strong result and noted the physical and mental demands placed on the rider due to Malaysia's warm climate.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Four practice sessions – two for both Friday and Saturday – were held before the race on Sunday. The first two on Friday ran for 45 minutes each with a third identically timed practice session held on Saturday morning. The final session on Saturday afternoon lasted half an hour. Pedrosa set the fastest time of the first practice session in hot weather conditions early on with a two minutes and 00.412 seconds lap. Lorenzo followed two-seconds of a second adrift in second and Márquez followed in third.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
The rest of the top ten was completed by Rossi, Scott Redding, Cal Crutchlow, Iannone, Héctor Barberá, Aleix Espargaró and Andrea Dovizioso. The track had a large amount of dust but had just two riders crash in the final twelve minutes: Crutchlow went off at turn five while Alvaro Bautista fell off his bike at the turn fifteen hairpin; both incidents occurred concurrently and the duo returned to the pit lane to mount onto their spare bikes. In the second practice session, Lorenzo recorded the fastest lap of the day at two minutes and 00.246 seconds with four minutes remaining. His fellow Spaniards Pedrosa and Márquez were second and third. Iannone, Crutchlow, Aleix Espargaró, Dovizioso, Danilo Petrucci and Redding followed in the top ten. The sole incident of second practice happened seven minutes in when Iannone crashed at turn eight.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Hazy weather conditions continued to affect Sepang heading into the third practice session which had Lorenzo improve on his previous best time from the day prior to record the fastest lap of the weekend so far late in practice at one minute and 59.544 seconds with Márquez following 0.142 seconds behind in second. Pedrosa was third-fastest, Rossi placed fourth and Barberá fifth. Crutchlow, Aleix Espargaró, Dovizioso, Pol Espargaró and Maverick Viñales occupied positions six through ten. Late in the session, Petrucci lost control of the front of his bike and crashed out at turn seven. Petrucci was unhurt.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Pedrosa topped the time sheets in the fourth practice session with a lap time of two minutes and 00.471 seconds. Márquez was 0.322 seconds slower in second place and Iannone was running stronger and set the third-fastest lap. Lorenzo was fourth-quickest; Rossi was fifth and Dovizioso sixth. Aleix Espargaró placed seventh, his brother Pol Espargaró was eighth, Redding ninth and Bradley Smith completed the top ten ahead of qualifying. The sole incident of the session occurred halfway through when the front of Lorenzo's bike got loose and slid into the gravel trap at the final corner.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Saturday afternoon's qualifying session was divided into two parts. The two sessions lasted 15 minutes and had the slowest riders in the first three practice sessions compete in the first part with the second session composing the top ten quickest participants from the opening trio of practice sessions. The first session had the fastest two competitors progress into the second session which determined pole position through to twelfth. While most riders opted for three timed runs, Pedrosa chose to perform two and ventured onto the track later so he would not be impeded by traffic.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
This enabled Pedrosa to clinch his first pole position of the season, his first since the 2014 Catalan Grand Prix, and broke Márquez's lap record of the Sepang International Circuit from the previous year with a time of one minute and 59.053 seconds. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Márquez whose fastest lap was four-tenths of a second off Pedrosa's pace and avoided crashing on his second run after making a rider error.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Rossi joined the duo in third but was initially a second slower despite slipstreaming Iannone but achieved his fastest time without drafting anyone on his final attempt. Lorenzo was fourth after believing he had qualified in the top three and was observed riding towards parc fermé but was redirected to his garage. Crutchlow secured fifth place in the closing minutes and demoted Iannone to sixth who had steering issues with his bike while Dovizioso took seventh. Viñales and Smith progressed into the second qualifying session, placing eighth and ninth and Barberá rounded out the top ten with his time matched by Aleix Espargaró who crashed in qualifying's closing seconds. Pol Espargaró was the slowest rider of the twelve that competed in the first qualifying session.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Petrucci was the fastest driver not to progress beyond the first qualifying session; his fastest time of two minutes and 1.346 seconds was almost 2.3 seconds off Pedrosa's pace  Stefan Bradl was 14th and he attributed this to a minor rider error at the final corner. Redding struggled to locate the feel for his bike and lost some time on the two long straights for unknown reasons, restricting him to 15th. 16th-place qualifier Jack Miller's bike caught fire and was thrown from it hike as the machine flipped over and rested in the turn seven gravel trap. Miller was unhurt.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Practice and qualifying
Bautista took 17th place as he struggled with the grip of his bike while rider errors meant Yonny Hernández started the race from 18th position. Nicky Hayden slipstreamed up behind another bike but this did not significantly aid him  enough to improve his best effort and took 19th while 20th-placed Loris Baz struggled with getting the correct amount of grip from his tyres and this meant he could not push any harder than he could. Similarly, his teammate Toni Elías secured 21st after he was unable to find the grip within his tyres on his first laps. Eugene Laverty was 22nd and Mike Di Meglio had issues with his front tyre that prevented him from pushing more aggressively and placed 23rd. Australians Anthony West and Damian Cudlin occupied the final positions on the grid in 24th and 25th.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Warm-up
The riders took to the track in hot ambient and track temperatures at 09:40 Malaysian Standard Time (UTC–08:00) for a twenty-minute warm-up session. Márquez continued his quick pace by setting the fastest lap of the session of two minutes and 00.186 seconds. He was 0.319 seconds quicker than Lorenzo in second. Rossi placed third with Pedrosa and Iannone fourth and fifth. Aleix Espargaró, Viñales, Crutchlow, Pol Espargaró and Dovizioso completed the top ten fastest riders.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Warm-up
Barberá clashed with the front wheel on Pol Espargaró's bike at turn one and both riders fell. Di Meglio crashed at turn five and could not get back to the pit lane despite escaping with no injuries. Miller crashed at turn nine with two minutes left and his session was ended prematurely. After warm-up, race direction issued one penalty point to Barberá for his clash with Pol Espargaró. Barberá thus accumulated his fourth penalty point of the season, and he was ordered to start at the back of the grid.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Race
The race began before a crowd of 88,832 people at 14:00 local time. Weather conditions at the start of the race were dry and cloudy. The air temperature was 35 °C (95 °F) and the track temperature was 47 °C (117 °F); a 30% probability of rain was forecast. The Honda factory duo of Pedrosa and Márquez maintained the first two positions heading into the first corner with Rossi third. Lorenzo made a poor getaway and was overtaken by the Ducatis of Dovizioso and Iannone but returned to fourth place after passing both riders at turn four.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Race
Rossi used the slipstream of the factory Hondas to keep in the lead group but his teammate Lorenzo was close by. Before the first lap ended, Cudlin lost control of the rear of his bike coming onto the back straight and crashed out of the Grand Prix. Lorenzo out-braked teammate Rossi on the outside line into turn one to move into third at the start of the second lap. Lorenzo then prevented Rossi from retaking third by staying on the racing line and this caused Rossi to slow so he would avoid glancing Lorenzo's bike. Further down the order, Bradl was passed by Crutchlow for seventh position. Baz became the second retiree of the race when he crashed on the start of the same lap at turn one.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Race
Soon after, Iannone retired in the pit lane with a damaged radiator which was caused by another rider kicking up a stone with one of his tyres at the start of the race and it punctured a hole in the bike component. Due to his crash in the warm-up session, Pol Espargaró was riding in severe pain with a fractured vertebrae and felt dizzy during certain points in the race which left him vulnerable to being overtaken by other riders. This was evident when Crutchlow and Smith moved past him for sixth and seventh on the second and third laps.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Race
Márquez was struggling to control the front of his bike and was losing ground to teammate Pedrosa and Lorenzo was closing up to him. Approaching turn four on lap three, Márquez made a mistake under braking and he skimmed along the edge of the rumble strips but managed to avoid running onto grass. This enabled Lorenzo to overtake Márquez for second place and went about trying to reduce Pedrosa's advantage at the front of the field. That same lap, Elías lost two positions when Barberá and Laverty got past him. Rossi observed Márquez's error at turn four and was close behind him entering the final corner but could not effect a successful overtaking manoeuvre.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Race
Márquez went off the racing line into turn four and Rossi overtook him for third on lap four with the latter unable to respond. Márquez then planned his counter-attack but continued to have problems with controlling the rear of his bike. Márquez began a duel that lasted three laps as he tried to retake third from Rossi at turn fifteen but went wide. At turn one at the start of lap five, Márquez did get past Rossi under braking but again ran wide which allowed Rossi to reclaim third.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Race
Márquez made a third passing try on Rossi entering turn four but the latter got back through when the former drifted wide. Márquez got through at turn five but lost third four corners later with the position changing hands at each corner. Márquez ended up holding third over Rossi on the back straight and the two riders overtook each other a total of ten times on lap five. Rossi's foot slipped three times off his footpeg but was able to regain control of his bike each time and avoid crashing.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Race
Rossi barged Márquez at turn seven on lap six but Márquez out-braked Rossi at turn fourteen later in the lap. Rossi grew increasingly frustrated with the battle for third and turned backwards to gesticulate to Márquez which was interpreted as a signal that the pair should stop duelling and slipstream one another to get back to Pedrosa and Lorenzo who were pulling away.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Race
After some close passes through the section of the track entering turn nine on lap seven, Rossi was on the inside line through the turn thirteen long-right hander with Márquez to his left. Rossi appeared to slow deliberately and push Márquez ever wider as they went into turn fourteen. This caused Rossi to adopt a jerky motion which had him adjust his bike's turning movements and position. Márquez was pushed off the racing line as he was pushed more wider by Rossi as he leaned in and the latter moved out after Rossi looked directly at Márquez.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Race
Doing this caused Márquez and Rossi to collide; Márquez's helmet hit Rossi's kneeslider, knocking his leg out of position, and subsequently contacted his handlebars. Márquez spun and fell from his bike as he crashed lowside but remounted. Márquez then rode into the pit lane and retired from the Grand Prix. Race direction announced on lap nine that the clash between Márquez and Rossi would be investigated after the race.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Race
On the eleventh lap, Crutchlow (despite a brake lever problem) was battling Dovizioso for fourth position at turns five and six when the two made contact during the change of direction. Dovizioso fell from his bike and retired but accepted an apology from Crutchlow after the race. Crutchlow later ran wide at the final corner on lap twelve, allowing Smith to overtake him for fourth place. On lap thirteen, Hayden was passed by Elías for fifteenth place and Petrucci overtook Aleix Espargaró for seventh position three laps later.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Race
Bautista fell to thirteenth on the same lap when Hernández and Barberá moved past him while Miller overtook Hayden to move into sixteenth but Hayden reclaimed the place on the final lap. Pedrosa opened his advantage at the front of the field to 3.6 seconds over Lorenzo and crossed the start/finish line after twenty laps to claim his second victory of the season, his 28th in MotoGP and the 51st of his career. Rossi was third and Smith and Crutchlow were fourth and fifth. Petrucci, Aleix Espargaró, Viñales,  Pol Espargaró, Bradl, Redding, Hernández, Barberá, Elías, Bautista, Hayden, Miller, Di Meglio, Laverty and West were the last of the classified finishers.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
On the post-race podium, Lorenzo was booed by the crowd as he collected his second-place trophy and his teammate Rossi declined to speak to the media in the later press conference. Lorenzo then proceeded to leave the podium and later explained to the press that this was not because of the booing but due to him suffering from exhaustion from the high ambient temperatures and humidity that is often dealt with in Malaysia.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
Two weeks later at the season-ending Valencian Community Grand Prix, Lorenzo apologised for appearing to make a thumbs down gesture at teammate Rossi on the podium, "I regret that. It's not a sporting example, especially for young people watching MotoGP around the world."


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
Pedrosa spoke about his happiness over taking his second victory of the season and stated that he set-up his bike similar to that of the pre-season test session at Sepang in February, "We had a good feeling from Friday, we were able to manage the weekend well and above all we had a bike that worked very well during every practice. ", and, "I am especially pleased to finish the season very positively, as it has been a hard year but we are now recovering well and we're in good form."


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
The collision between Rossi and Márquez at turn fourteen on lap seven overshadowed the race. Márquez expressed his shock over what had happened and that he did not foresee it happening and was annoyed at being caught up in the crash. He stated his belief that Rossi had violated MotoGP regulations, "For me it doesn't matter if you are Valentino or another rider, [in] this type of incident you are out of control. To take a leg off and push another rider out, it is difficult think like this on the bike."


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
Rossi defended his actions, arguing that the collision was not done with malice and protested his innocence. He said that he did not regret the comments he made about Márquez and had lost all respect for Márquez and teammate Lorenzo due to the incident. Rossi also theorised that Marquez was still resentful from the incidents at the Argentine Grand Prix and the Dutch TT and that he was seeking revenge from what had happened, "He decided the championship and he made me lose the championship. I think that he will be very happy.”


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
Race direction requested Rossi and Márquez to visit the stewards after the race where they provided testimony and video evidence was reviewed. Both riders exchanged words in a heated confrontation with nothing of what was said disclosed to the media.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
The stewards deemed Rossi to have "deliberately ran wide on Turn 14 in order to force another rider off line, resulting in contact causing the other rider to crash" and issued him three penalty points for transgressing Article 1.21.2 of the FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix Regulations and was ordered to start at the back of the grid for the Valencian Community Grand Prix because he already had another penalty point from earlier in the season.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
After Yamaha had their appeal rejected by the FIM, Rossi lodged one with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on 30 October and sought either the annulment or reduction of the penalty and it was suspended until the  CAS heard his case. Lawyers acting on Lorenzo's behalf filed a Request for Intervention three days later so they could act on his behalf but the CAS told them of their rejection of this move.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
On 4 November, a preliminary hearing was held at the CAS headquarters in Lausanne and an order undertaken by CAS arbitrator Ulrich Haas dismissing the stay filed by Rossi meant his penalty stood. Rossi told the CAS that he was withdrawing the appeal on 10 December and the case was subsequently closed.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
The result of the race meant Lorenzo reduced Rossi's advantage at the top of the Riders' Championship to seven points. Despite failing to finish the race, Márquez maintained third position with 222 points and his teammate Pedrosa moved past the non-finishing Iannone for fourth because of his victory. Yamaha MotoGP increased their unassailable lead at the top of the Teams' Championship to 200 points over Repsol Honda. With Ducati unable to finish the Grand Prix, they fell further back from Repsol Honda with 341 points but still retained third position. Tech 3 and Suzuki MotoGP kept fourth and fifth with a respective 274 and 189 points. Yamaha continued to lead the Constructors' Championship but their advantage over Honda had been lowered to 47 points. Ducati, Suzuki and Yamaha Forward completed the top five with round of the season left.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Reaction to the Rossi–Márquez collision
Both Rossi and Márquez were criticized for their actions with former MotoGP riders Ben Spies, Jeremy McWilliams and retired World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss expressing their displeasure with the incident and that both riders were to blame. Double MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner and retired World Superbike Champion Carl Fogarty were critical of Rossi's move and the penalty that was given, with both claiming that had any rider other than Rossi done the same thing, they would have been disqualified immediately.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Reaction to the Rossi–Márquez collision
Lorenzo also criticized the move by his teammate Rossi and said the penalty given to him afterwards was a case of receiving preferable treatment as the sport's biggest rider, "If another rider did what Valentino did today, he would do minimum a ride through, minimum a black flag, minimum a race of penalization. But it didn't happen, and I'm disappointed, very disappointed." However, Franco Uncini, MotoGP's safety director, played down suggestions that Rossi's status had was influential in deciding the penalty and stated the severity of the incident called for a retrospective review rather than an imminent decision."


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Reaction to the Rossi–Márquez collision
Pedrosa was critical of Rossi's response to the collision and stated, "Valentino [is always] saying, well, this is racing, and racing is like this, and we should fight, and now he is changing his comment. A little bit of [a] contradiction at this moment of what he said then, and what he is saying now."


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Reaction to the Rossi–Márquez collision
Fifteen-time World Champion Giacomo Agostini told Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport that Rossi had fallen into Márquez's trap which led him to believe he was the more intelligent rider and that the reaction given to him by Márquez during the race was an expected one, "I'm convinced that Valentino was angry, exhausted and frustrated, but until that turn it had been a great fight. But Valentino was surprised. He is a great professional." Michael Laverty criticised Márquez on Twitter, "Marc [Marquez] broke the unwritten rule, always respect those fighting for a championship when you're not" with Colin Edwards expressing a similar statement.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Reaction to the Rossi–Márquez collision
The FIM president Vito Ippolito wrote an open letter to the MotoGP community, saying the events had "a damaging effect on the staging of our competitions and poisoned the atmosphere around the sport", and, "We are moving away from the tradition of pride in sportsmanship that is part of the heritage of motorcycling." Thirteen-time champion Ángel Nieto wrote to Rossi and Márquez and called for both riders to resume "the harmony and the respect that has characterised throughout your successful career, in which you were an idol for one another.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Reaction to the Rossi–Márquez collision
Respect is something that you should never lose and It should be an example for the millions of fans who love the sport." Carmelo Ezpeleta, the CEO of Dorna Sports, privately met with Lorenzo, Rossi and Márquez and later told the press at Valencia that Ippolito believed mistakes had been made and cooperation with the MotoGP community was needed to correct them, "We’ve done a lot of self-analysis and few people know the situation better than us. I've never had any qualms about accepting that when things go wrong, our mission is to try to see what we can do to improve things in the future.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Reaction to the Rossi–Márquez collision
Reactions from the Formula One community were mixed. Four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel spoke of his belief that Rossi had committed no infraction and 2008 runner-up Felipe Massa apportioned blame onto Rossi whom he felt made a mistake. Figures from the political world also had their say with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy tweeting, "In sport as in politics, not everything is permissible", and the Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi telephoned Rossi to offer his support.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Reaction to the Rossi–Márquez collision
Members of the media also came under scrutiny by creating allegations that Lorenzo stormed into the Race Direction hearing and pleaded that Rossi be disqualified and "launched into a tirade". Lorenzo then wrote on Twitter and debunked the allegations by stating he was at the press conference with Pedrosa and that the alleged tirade could have never existed. The members of the media that posted the articles later retracted and deleted their statements.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Reaction to the Rossi–Márquez collision
Journalists from the Italian media also came under significant criticism after being found to have trespassed onto Márquez's home property in Barcelona, which included physical attacks and abuse on both Márquez and his family, resulting in a legal complaint being filed by Márquez, as well as a police investigation.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Reaction to the Rossi–Márquez collision
The incident in Barcelona, along with an ongoing protest to eradicate Rossi's penalty, forced Ezpeleta to cancel the pre-race press conference in Valencia to address any ongoing concerns the riders, teams and constructors throughout the entire paddock felt hadn't been addressed, while ensuring the safety of the three main riders caught up in the controversy.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Reaction to the Rossi–Márquez collision
The Spanish press were critical of Rossi's actions and fans on social media compared it to those committed by Italian defender Mauro Tassotti who elbowed Luis Enrique during the quarter-finals of the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the kick to the chest committed by defensive midfielder Nigel de Jong on central midfielder Xabi Alonso in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final. Journalist Mat Oxley summarised the controversy in a self-penned article for Motor Sport,


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Reaction to the Rossi–Márquez collision
Many people believe that [Rossi's] actions were justified because of Marquez's onslaught, just as many believe Zinedine Zidane was justified in head-butting an opponent in the 2006 World Cup Final, or that David Beckham was justified in kicking another player in the 1998 World Cup. But you can't do that."


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Aftermath of the incident
The aftermath of the incident left a lingering effect on the sport, particularly Lorenzo and Márquez who were given extra security during the Italian and San Marino rounds of the 2016 season after an increasing amount of serious threats towards them by Rossi's fan base. Both men continuously received a chorus of boos from Rossi's fan base whenever they were seen on track and television screens throughout the entirety of the season.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Aftermath of the incident
Márquez notably used the hostile reaction from the fans as fuel to continue to compete, winning the next four championships after the 2015 season, with another clash with Rossi during the qualifying session 2019 San Marino Grand Prix and would go onto win the race, Márquez publicly stating his motivation was based on the incident during qualifying.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Aftermath of the incident
Prior to the 2020 season, then team-principal Livio Suppo reflected on the incident and the impact it had on both Márquez and sport itself, "There was a big confusion among some of Valentino's friends, they came into the garage shouting and were really aggressive with Marc [...], it was an unforgettable weekend.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Aftermath of the incident
The biggest thing about Marc is his character, he's always positive, always smiling; Valentino is such a big hero that it has bought some hooligans to the sport, while growing fans is good for the sport it has consequences, it comes with a lot of people who don't understand the rules. Marc was able to manage the situation and come back stronger." Journalist Suzi Perry praising Marquez's calm demeanour throughout, "It's incredible to think Marc kept a level head during that time, because he was so young. When he came to Valencia you didn't see any differences in his character at all." Despite this, Marquez and Rossi have never resumed their friendship, although according to Lorenzo the estrangement between them began during their incident in Argentina, not during the Malaysian press conference.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Aftermath of the incident
During Lorenzo's championship victory in the 2015 season, Yamaha's celebrations were quiet in comparison to previous years, which prompted the Mission-Winnow Ducati Team to sign him on a 2-year deal for the 2017 and 2018 seasons, ending a 9-year partnership between himself and the Monster Yamaha Factory Team, a split that heavily effected both sides.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Aftermath of the incident
Monster Yamaha signed Maverick Viñales to fill Lorenzo's seat and resigned Rossi whilst their results began to decline, the Yamaha team have only won three races since Rossi's victory at the 2017 Dutch TT - with all wins courtesy of Viñales - and have finished third in the teams championship every year since 2017 behind Repsol Honda and Mission-Winnow Ducati. While the Yamaha M1 continued to sustain problems and was unable to keep up with the horsepower the Ducati Desmosedici and the Honda RC213V, with most victories since the 2018 season coming on either a Ducati or a Honda.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Aftermath of the incident
After joining Ducati, Lorenzo had a lacklustre 2017 season, with injuries, despite three victories in 2018 at Italy, Barcelona and Austria, a crash in Thailand ended his season five rounds early. Lorenzo would sign with Repsol Honda in 2019 and announce his retirement the same year in Valencia after losing motivation to compete in the field, as well as the continuous injuries sustained and last three seasons left him with a decreasing ability to be competitive with the rest of the field.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Aftermath of the incident
Lorenzo would return to Yamaha as their test rider from the 2020 season, four years after leaving the company. When speaking to British broadcaster BT Sports in May 2020, Lorenzo remarked the heartbreak of feeling his title was not a deserved victory by some MotoGP fans, stating that he achieved the most victories, pole positions and fastest laps throughout the season, "me and my team, we were in our own little world, our own bubble, we know the value of that championship and I think we were the worthy champions".


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Aftermath of the incident
Rossi's legacy has been impacted since the incident, with many questions about where the "Spanish conspiracy" had emerged from, whether it was a psychological tactic that went awry, if friends from his personal circle had fuelled the idea or if he had simply crumbled under the pressure of an eighth world title; although his personal records continue to maintain a positive impact.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Aftermath of the incident
After the Valencian race when he lost the championship to teammate Lorenzo, Rossi told reporters he felt that making the comments during the Malaysian press conference and the decision to attack Márquez during the race were mistakes, although he refused to apologise for it and has not addressed the incident publicly since.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Moto2
Entering the Moto2 race, Petronas AHM Malaysia announced that they would field Ramdan Rosli as a wild card rider, the third time he raced under this method in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Esteve Rabat missed the race as he was recovering from a broken radius in his left arm. Thomas Lüthi was in the top three in all trio of practice sessions and carried his strong form into qualifying where he took his eighth career pole position with a time of two minutes and 6.383 seconds and no one could better his effort because of rain.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Moto2
Lüthi's time eclipsed Pol Espargaro's class lap record of the Sepang International Circuit in 2012. Moto2 champion Johann Zarco joined Lüthi on the front row of the grid and Álex Rins started alongside the two in third. Lüthi held the lead going into the first corner. Although he lost the position to Zarco at turn four, Lüthi retook it at the final turn. Lüthi then tried to created a small advantage at the front of the field with Zarco close by.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Moto2
Both riders successfully opened up a healthy lead at the front of the pack and Lüthi's advantage over Zarco was up to one second by the start of lap eleven. With seven laps to go, Zarco lowered Lüthi's lead to half a second but it returned to one second three laps later when Lüthi received a message on his pit board encouraging him to increase his pace.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Moto2
Zarco conserved the life of his tyres and began reducing Lüthi's lead in preparation for a final attack on him for the victory with three laps remaining. The lead was down to two-tenths of a second at the start of the final lap and Zarco took first from Lüthi at turn two.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Moto2
Zarco then fended off a comeback from Lüthi and held the lead for the rest of the race to secure the tenth victory of his career by half a second and he equalled Rabat and Márquez's joint record of the number of Moto2 podiums scored in one season with his fourteenth of 2015. Jonas Folger was battling Rins for third until the latter crashed at turn nine on lap ten and was untroubled thereafter. Takaaki Nakagami was a distant fourth and overtook Lorenzo Baldassarri in the closing laps of the race to demote him to fifth.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Moto2
Luis Salom found some pace around the same period of the event to claim sixth. The top ten was completed by Sandro Cortese, Hafizh Syahrin, Simone Corsi and Xavier Siméon. Axel Pons came eleventh after coming close to passing Siméon on the final lap with Mika Kallio twelfth. Thirteenth-placed and Sam Lowes struggled with grip in the race's closing stages which lost him five seconds per lap, and Ricard Cardús and Franco Morbidelli were the final two points scorers. Álex Márquez and Marcel Schrötter were the other retirements of the race due to separate crashes within the first nine laps.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Moto3
Going into the weekend in Moto3, Danny Kent needed to finish in the top five regardless of where his championship rival Miguel Oliviera came or finish ahead of the latter in order to clinch the Riders' Championship and become the first British rider to do since Barry Sheene in 1977. Andrea Locatelli withdrew after injuring his coccyx in the first practice session and his fellow Italian Alessandro Tonucci was ruled unfit to compete after crashing in the second practice session.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Moto3
Heavy traffic affected qualifying and pole position was taken by Niccolò Antonelli for the third time in his career and his second of the season with a time of two minutes and 12.653 seconds. Antonelli was joined on the front row of the grid by Jorge Navarro in second and Oliviera in third. Kent took sixth but he was demoted to ninth after being found to ride slowly on the racing line due to him being unable to draft other riders.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Moto3
Oliviera made the best start in the field but was involved in a multi-rider battle involving Brad Binder, Navarro, Antonelli, Romano Fenati, Francesco Bagnaia and Jakub Kornfeil. Meanwhile, Kent fell seven places to be 16th at the end of the first lap but began recovering lost ground when some riders, including his teammates Hiroki Ono and Efrén Vázquez, clashed with each other and was in seventh place behind Antonelli by lap nine.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Moto3
The lead swapped hands repeatedly almost every lap as the race drew on because of the slipstream effect down the two long straights of the circuit. With three laps remaining, Kent's recovery was helped when Bagania crashed at the final corner and nudged Antonelli wide to move into fifth the lap after and it appeared that he would win the championship. As the field began the final lap, Kent overtook Fenati for fourth at the first turn but was exposed to Antonelli who retook fifth shortly after.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Moto3
Kent then got back past Antonelli at the fourth corner but the latter responded by re-passing him at turn nine. The race was decided in the final moments when Oliviera drafted Binder on the back straight and passed him at the final corner. Oliviera successfully fended Binder off to clinch his fifth victory of the season and his second in a row. Navarro took third, Antonelli finished fourth for the second consecutive race, Fenati placed fifth and Kornfeil was sixth.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Moto3
Kent ran wide at the final corner and took seventh which meant he was now 24 points ahead of Oliviera and the championship would be decided at the season-closing round at Valencia and Kent needed to score two points to win the title. Enea Bastianini was four seconds behind Kent in eighth and Alexis Masbou and John McPhee rounded out the top ten.


2015 Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, Championship standings after the race (MotoGP)
Below are the standings for the top five riders and constructors after round seventeen has concluded.


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield
The 2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield, (commonly known as the 2015 Milo Charity Shield due to sponsorship reasons) was the 7th Maldivian FA Charity Shield, an annual Maldivian football match played between the winners of the previous season's Dhivehi League and FA Cup. The game was played between New Radiant, champions of the 2014 Dhivehi League, and Maziya, champions of 2014 Maldives FA Cup.


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield
Maziya began the game more strongly and took the lead when Pablo Rodríguez scored in the 34th minute. They scored their second of the match, as substitute Ahmed Nashid finished off a counter-attacking move.


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield
Maziya's victory was their first ever victory in a Charity Shield match and their coach Ali Suzain described the win as a way for another success.


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield, Background
Introduced in 2009 after the Cup Winners Cup was abolished, the Maldivian FA Charity Shield began as a contest between the respective champions of the Dhivehi League and Maldives FA Cup. As the Dhivehi League was re-branded to Dhivehi Premier League in 2015, champion of the Premier League will play against the FA Cup champions from the 2015 season on wards.


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield, Background
As part of a sponsorship deal between Milo, the match was officially referred to as "Milo Charity Shield" for the first five years and later Lifebouy came up with the sponsorship and the match was officially referred as "Lifebuoy Charity Shield" in 2014. Again from 2015, it continues as the "Milo Charity Shield".


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield, Background
New Radiant qualified for the 2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield as winners of the 2014 Dhivehi League. The club won their fourth league title (third consecutive title in a row). The other Charity Shield place went to Maziya, who were the champions of 2014 Maldives FA Cup. It was their second FA Cup title.


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield, Background
New Radiant and Maziya both made two appearances before the 2015 Charity Shield match, when they both met in the 2013 Charity Shield match and in 2014 Charity Shield match; where New Radiant won 3–1 on both occasions.


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield, Background
The match was televised live in the Maldives on Television Maldives.


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield, Build-up
As The winner of this match has to donate their MVR 50,000 cash prize to a non-governmental organization of the Maldives, New Radiant decided to donate to the  and Maziya to the .


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield, Build-up
New Radiant coach Amir Alagic, said before the game that, "It is a 50 – 50 match and there might be a difference of an individual player to win the match. And also it might win due to a decision by the referee." He was conscious of his team's poor start at the 2015 POMIS Cup and the 2015 AFC Cup, and wanted them to do better. He also said that the result doesn't matter to him, and he wants to see where his players are, and how much his players have improved after his arrival.


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield, Build-up
On the other hand, Maziya coach Ali Suzain targets for a win. He said before the game that winning the Shield "it would be very good start for Maziya to start the season." Suzain expected his opponents to provide a good test for Maziya in the Shield match and thereafter in the league season.


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield, Match, Team selection
New Radiant were predicted to line-up in a 4–2–3–1 formation, with Hamza Mohamed and Viliam Macko as wide men. Winger Ali Fasir was unavailable for selection because he was not fully recovered after his surgery. Maziya were expected to line up 4–2–1–3, unlike New Radiant, with Mohamed Irufaan and Moosa Yaamin as a holding midfielders, as Toshiya Hosoe was unavailable due to severe common cold and fever.


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield, Match, Team selection
When the team sheets were revealed, New Radiant lined up in a 4–3–2–1 surprisingly including Ibrahim Fazeel in their defensive midfield, as his first appearance of the season. Hamza was benched and they started Rilwan Waheed at his right wing position while Rilwan's right back position was filled by Ahmed Abdulla. Unlike it was predicted, Maziya lined up with two strikers, in a 4–1–3–2 formation. Hussain Niyaz Mohamed and Mohamed Umair were played as wings, while Asadhulla Abdulla played behind Pablo Rodríguez in the forward.


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield, Match, Summary, First half
Maziya got the match underway and tried to create good chances too score. In the 11th minute Shafiu Ahmed was shown the game's first yellow card for fouling Asadhulla. In the 21st minute, Hussain Niyaz's shot inside the penalty area was deflected out by the cross-bar, while his shot from the same position, after a couple of minutes was punched out by the keeper Alisher Akhmedov. After a minute, Asadhulla received a yellow card for his foul on Alisher when he lost position to the New Radiant goalkeeper.


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield, Match, Summary, First half
New Radiant were forced to make an early substitution in the 26th minute of the first half, as Ibrahim Fazeel left the field to the bench due to an unknown reason and Akram Abdul Ghanee came in to play. New Radiant goalkeeper trainer Hassan Hameed was sent off from the bench for throwing frustrations towards the referee, in the 27th minute. In the 31st minute, Rilwan was shown a yellow card for a foul on Samdhooh Mohamed inside the Maziya penalty area. Pablo Rodríguez took the lead for Maziya in the 34th minute. Samdhooh's free-kick from the left flank was headed by Asadhulla and was blocked by a New Radiant defender. Rodríguez got the rebounded ball and scored the goal.


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield, Match, Summary, Second half
New Radiant ended the first half with zero shots, and made a half time substitution, bringing midfielder Mohamed Shaffaz in to play for the defender Shafiu. New Radiant played a better possession game, trying to make chances in this half, but Maziya had the first shot of the second half, after just five minutes. Samdhooh's corner was side-netted by Amdham Ali with his head. New radiant made their final substitution with 21 minutes remaining for full-time; Ahmed Suhail replacing Rilwan. Zhivko was shown a yellow card in the 71st minute, for a foul on Shaffaz.


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield, Match, Summary, Second half
Maziya made their first substitute in the 72nd minute, bringing in Ahmed Nashid for Hussain Niyaz. They made their second substitution after three minute, replacing Ahmed Imaz for Mohamed Umair. In the 77th minute, New Radiant's Suhail tried to dribble into the penalty area from Ashad Ali's through ball but Samdhooh Mohamed fouled him on the edge of the penalty area and received a yellow card. Maziya made their final substitution in the 86th minute, Hassan Shifaz replacing captain Asadhulla Addulla. Asadhulla handed over the captain band for Samdhooh before coming off.


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield, Match, Summary, Second half
During the 2nd minute of the stoppage time, substitute Nashid doubled the lead for Maziya. While New Radiant goalkeeper Alisher was inside Maziya's penalty area for a corner kick, Rodríguez got the ball and he dribbled off his marker while Alisher tried hard to take his position, and when Alisher was back to his position, Rodríguez passed the ball to the unmarked Nashid and he sent the ball into an empty net.


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield, Match, Summary, Second half
While Nashid took his shot, Mohamed Rasheed was on the goal line to block it but he could not head away Nashid's shot which hit the roof of the net. Nashid also received a yellow for his goal celebration, by taking his shirt off. New Radiant's captain Ashad was also shown a yellow card in the final minute of the stoppage time.


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield, Post-match
The shield was presented to Asadhulla by Minister of Youth and Sports Mohamed Maleeh Jamal. Maziya's win marked their first victory in the Community Shield. Chairman of Maziya Ahmed Sajid presented the donation of MVR 50,000 from their cash prize to the Maldives Autism Association. Suzain was delighted with his team’s performance and described their play in the first half as complete. He described the win as significant because it gave Maziya a confidence boost going into the season. "This is Maziya's first ever Charity Shield win, they can never win it again for the first time.


2015 Maldivian FA Charity Shield, Post-match
So we've got the chance to think about other competitions. It would be a great achievement if Maziya could win the domestic tournaments which we have not won yet, in this time when the team is in a good maturing phase. Winning this Shield match was very important", Suzain said after the match. Maziya captain Asadhulla described the win as, "the secret behind the success was our team work".


2015 Maldivian Second Division Football Tournament
The 2015 Second Division Football Tournament was the first season under its current league division format. The season began on 24 July and ended on 14 September.


2015 Maldivian Second Division Football Tournament, Structure and rule changes
Second division will be played for two rounds according to the changes brought to the 2015 season.


2015 Maldivian Second Division Football Tournament, Teams
A total of 10 teams will be contesting in the league, including 6 sides from the 2014 Second Division, 2 sides promoted from 2014 Third Division, 1 side relegated from 2014 Dhivehi League and Maldives national under-19 football team.


2015 Maldivian Second Division Football Tournament, Teams, Personnel
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2015 Maldon District Council election
The 2015 Maldon District Council election took place on 7 May to elect all members of Maldon District Council in Essex, England, the same day as the other 2015 United Kingdom local elections and held simultaneously at the same polling places or via the optional combined return of two postal vote envelopes with the 2015 United Kingdom General Election.


2015 Maldon District Council election, Result
The governing group of Conservative councillors continued to have the same number of representatives with at least  across all areas of the district - all bar two councillors are members of this political party as before the election. The Althorne and Southminster two-seat wards returned one other affiliated member each, the latter being a hold by an independent councillor and the former a gain by a member of UKIP (from a Conservative) both thus to co-represent the area in council meetings alongside a Conservative member. A Conservative gain of an independent affiliated seat in the district, one of those for Burnham on Crouch North completed the election in which 24 seats of 26 are held by members of the same governing party.


2015 Maldon District Council election, Result
NB: The British National Party candidates stood under the description "Fighting Unsustainable Housing because we care" but were promoted as BNP candidates.


2015 Malmö FF season
The 2015 season was Malmö FF's 104th in existence, their 80th season in Allsvenskan and their 15th consecutive season in the league. They competed in Allsvenskan where they finished fifth, 2014–15 Svenska Cupen where they were knocked out in the quarter-finals and the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League where they were knocked out in the group stage. Malmö FF also participated in one competition in which the club continued playing in for the 2016 season, 2015–16 Svenska Cupen. The season began with the group stage of Svenska Cupen on 22 February, league play started on 6 April and concluded on 31 October. The season concluded with the last Champions League group stage match on 8 December.


2015 Malmö FF season
Markus Rosenberg was appointed permanent club captain, succeeding Guillermo Molins, who he had temporarily replaced during the summer of 2014 due to Molins being injured. For the first time in the history of the club, Malmö FF appeared in consecutive UEFA Champions League group stages. The club was not as successful on the domestic stage as they failed to defend their title by finishing fifth in the league. This was the first time that Malmö FF missed out on the top-four since the 2009 season.


2015 Malmö FF season, Summary, Allsvenskan
The league season started on 6 April 2015 and concluded on 31 October 2015. The official season fixtures were released on 21 January 2015. Malmö FF started the season away against newly promoted GIF Sundsvall on 6 April, Malmö FF won the match 4–1. The club's first home fixture was played on 9 April against last year's third-place team AIK, the match ended in a goalless draw. There was a one-month summer break in June due to Sweden's participation in the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in the Czech Republic. Malmö FF played no league matches between 7 June and 5 July. The club played its last league fixture of the season at home against IFK Norrköping on 31 October, a 2–0 defeat which saw Norrköping become league champions.


2015 Malmö FF season, Summary, Allsvenskan
The club got off to a fairly promising start, winning three of the first five games against GIF Sundsvall, title contenders and rivals IFK Göteborg and newly promoted Hammarby IF. Out of these first five games Malmö FF also tied against title rivals AIK and Falkenbergs FF. Notably Malmö FF dropped pole position in the league to Gefle IF on 9 April in the second round of play. The club had held first place in the league since 18 August 2013 for a continuous streak of 599 days, never losing the lead during the victorious 2014 season. Malmö FF continued to win the following two games at home against Halmstads BK and regional rivals Helsingborgs IF. These two wins solidified the club's position as league leaders after seven rounds of play.


2015 Malmö FF season, Summary, Allsvenskan
The following three matches resulted in a win-less streak of a draw and two losses in a row. Malmö FF first tied the away fixture against IF Elfsborg after a late equaliser from the home side. This was succeeded by defeats against BK Häcken and Kalmar FF, notably the last time Malmö FF won against Häcken was as far back as in October 2011. This was the first time since September 2014 that the club failed to win in three games and the first time since June 2011 that they lost two league matches in succession. This streak was followed by back to back wins against Åtvidabergs FF and Gefle IF and a home draw against Djurgårdens IF. This meant that Malmö FF took up fourth position in the league table at the time of the summer break, seven points behind leaders IFK Göteborg.


2015 Malmö FF season, Summary, Allsvenskan
When Allsvenskan restarted in July, Malmö FF experienced another struggling period as they failed to win any of the first three matches after the break, an away loss against IFK Norrköping and two consecutive draws against Örebro SK. This was followed by a four-match undefeated streak in which Malmö FF defeated GIF Sundsvall, league leaders IFK Göteborg, Gefle and drew against Åtvidaberg. After 20 rounds of play, Malmö FF was in fifth place in the league, four points behind IFK Göteborg in first place. In the next-coming five games, the club won three, drew one and lost one. By 25 rounds the gap to the trio of leading teams had increased to seven points and Malmö FF was now forth, one point ahead of Elfsborg.


2015 Malmö FF season, Summary, Allsvenskan
With five matches remaining, Malmö FF still had a realistic chance of retaining the title if they won the remaining fixtures. That chance quickly vanished with a goalless draw away at Halmstad and an away loss against fellow title contender AIK in the 27th round. The primary focus for Malmö FF now was to reach a fourth-place finish. After wins against Kalmar and Hammarby in the 28th and 29th round respectively, Malmö FF had a two-point advantage over Elfsborg for fourth place. In the last round, Malmö FF played a home fixture against league leaders IFK Norrköping. A draw would have sufficed for Malmö FF to clinch fourth place, but a motivated Norrköping won the match 2–0 and captured their first league title in 26 years. Since Elfsborg won their last match, Malmö FF ended the season in fifth place.