KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 — Johor crown prince Tunku Ismail Ibrahim has challenged the SEA Games polo squad to a match for Malaysia to decide those "qualified” to represent the country.

Tunku Ismail, also known as TMJ, pointed out that he had beaten the team represented by national polo team manager Datuk Mohamad Zekri Ibrahim with a score of 10-0 and 11-0 in a polo tournament in Pekan, Pahang.

"With a margin like that, how can you represent the country?” Tunku Ismail wrote on Facebook. "In my opinion, let’s stop all speculations on this issue by having a polo match between the selected SEA Games polo squad and the Royal Johor Polo Club team, consisting of my brother, two of our players as well as myself. I also recommend that this match to be shown on live TV and watched by the entire nation,” he added.

The Johor crown prince said he believed that the more qualified people to represent the country were Saladin, Hussaini Yunos, Tengku Hassanal Shah, Tengku Amir, Tengku Muhammad Shah, and Amran Selamat, among others.

"May I also suggest that we allow fans to catch the match by selling tickets at RM10 each and we can distribute the proceeds of total ticket sales to football clubs such as FA Cup Champions Kedah, Pahang, Melaka, Kelantan or even channel them to charitable bodies,” Tunku Ismail added.

National newswire Bernama quoted Mohamad Zekri yesterday as saying that Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin was not accorded any privilege when he was selected as one of the members of the national polo team for the regional games.

In an article penned last Saturday, Tunku Ismail lamented the state of affairs in Malaysia and said the country had become a place "where politicians are wanting to be celebrities and sportsmen” and "where a person who can’t ride a horse or play polo can be selected to represent the country”.