KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 — Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin paid the Johor sultan and crown prince a visit yesterday, after the royal house slammed him over Malaysia’s win in the SEA Games polo tournament.
A post on the Johor Darul Ta’zim football club’s official Facebook page showed Khairy shaking their hands, and later appearing to discuss matters in the prince Tunku Ismail Ibrahim.
The minister was clad in baju batik complete with songkok, while the latter wore a black jacket over a matching polo T-shirt. Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar was in a pink polo T-shirt.
Khairy later warned the public on Twitter against pitting him against the royal family.
“Hopefully there will be no more parties who try to pit me against the Johor royal house. Please be respectful in your comments on social media,” Khairy tweeted.
This comes as the police are investigating five Facebook users for alleged offensive postings towards members of the Johor royalty over the polo challenge.
Police are investigating the case under of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998, where those found guilty could face a maximum fine of RM50,000, a one-year jail sentence or both.
On Thursday, Johor ruler Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar accused Khairy of trying to claim credit for Malaysia’s win.
It is unclear as to what had prompted his salvo against the Umno Youth chief, but the Johor ruler took to Facebook to slam the federal minister, accusing him of ordering a player to fake injury so he could play at the last minute and appear as the leading man of the moment.
Khairy is the first ever Malaysian minister to compete as a professional athlete in the SEA Games tournament, leading the country’s first ever polo team.
But the Johor ruler suggested that the current polo team was mediocre and that its winning streak was only due to the poor standards of the teams competing in tournament.
To measure the national team’s true strength, Sultan Ibrahim has challenged Khairy and his men to a game against his two sons and the state’s polo team. The Johor ruler, now 58, had also expressed the willingness to play for the Johor side.
