KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — Football should not be politicised, Crown Prince of Johor Tunku Ismail Idris said today in response to the reels of criticisms for the match between the Malaysian national team and English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspurs.
In a Facebook post published on the official page of the state’s football team Johor Southern Tigers, Tunku Ismail urged Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin to intervene instead of supporting the match which he believed would not benefit the country.
“I don't urge you to stop it. But I urge you to be sure that this is the last time because we should start doing things that are beneficial to national football and not benefitting those serving in FAM,” said the prince, who also heads the state’s football association.
“You have done well in sports but you also need to help the football in this country. Do not allow football to be politicised as how this country has been politicised on various issues lately.”
Tunku Ismail said he was surprised that Khairy supported the Football Association of Malaysia’s (FAM) decision to hold the match, labelled as “circus match” by its detractors, although it does not benefit the national team.
“This match serves one purpose and one purpose only — the proceeds of this match go to the organisers responsible to bring the team to Malaysia and FAM. But what benefit does it bring the national team for the World Cup qualifiers?” he asked.
He also called on the Rembau MP to be less supportive of FAM, which he said has destroyed the state of football in the country, and instead be more focused in improving football standards here.
“You should serve them by voicing their concerns and dissatisfaction towards FAM, which has been running Malaysian football poorly for the last 30 years,” Tunku Ismail added, referring to the public.
“To move forward for the sake of football in the county, we should concentrate more on the National Team's performance and ranking. Not forgetting the fairly distributed broadcasting rights to all the participating teams in Malaysia.”
The national football team’s friendly games against international clubs such as Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspurs in the next three months have seen much objection from supporter groups including the Ultras Malaya, which believed it would disrupt local football.
The match with Tottenham Hotspurs is scheduled less than two weeks before Malaysia’s bid to win gold at the Southeast Asian Games in June, which is followed swiftly by the start of the joint qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup.
