.JPG "Malaysia football fans are pictured queuing for tickets to the SEA Games final match between Malaysia and Thailand tomorrow at Stadium Shah Alam August 28, 2017. u00e2u20acu2022 Picture by Miera Zulyana Abdul Rahman")
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 — All matters relating to ticket sales for football and futsal matches at the 2017 SEA Games are under the purview of the tournament’s organising committee and the Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS), the country’s soccer governing body FAM clarified today.
Its secretary-general Dato Hamidin Mohd Amin said it was unfair for critics to blame Football Association Malaysia for yesterday’s ticket sales fiasco that left thousands of fans stranded without tickets for the gold medal match between Malaysia and Thailand taking place later tonight.
“As a representative of FAM, I feel sorry that there are still certain parties who insist on putting the blame on FAM regarding the issue of ticket sales while we are only involved in the technical issues of the football and futsal matches of the 2017 SEA Games,” he said in a statement issued earlier today.
Hamidin said the final match for the men’s football event is under the total management of Malaysia Organising Committee (MASOC) and KBS, not FAM or Football Malaysia LLP (FMLLP) as claimed by critics.
At the same time FAM president Tunku Ismail Ibrahim, the Crown Prince of Johor, blasted the organisers for allegedly reserving a large portion of the tickets for tonight’s match for high-ranking government officials at the expense of the fans.
“I remember when JDT had important matches at the Larkin Stadium (Charity Cup) and Shah Alam Stadium (FA Cup). Back then, many politicians and high ranking state officials requested for ticket quotas of up to two thousand pieces.
“I had then informed Captain Fahmy, the Administrative Officer of Johor Military Force, that I was not agreeable to the demands and gave only a few to them and the rest to the fans,” Tunku Ismail wrote on the Johor Southern Tigers Facebook wall, the official page of the state’s main football club, Johor Darul Ta’azim FC.
“The fans are the heartbeat that motivates a football team whether it is a club or a national team. Football is nothing without fans,” he wrote.
The statement was likely made after allegations surfaced that the organisers had reserved thousands of tickets for KBS officials, as well as Umno politicians.
The claim had been accompanied by a picture of purportedly showing a large stack of tickets placed in a box, and wrapped around markers captioned “for KBS officials”, which was widely circulated on Facebook.
More than 5,000 Malaysian fans who had made their way to the Shah Alam Stadium as early as 4am on Monday morning were left disappointed from the tickets shortage.
The authorities claimed they were forced to temporarily suspend ticket sales after fans turned aggressive and broke through barricades forming lines near the ticket sales counter.
This led to a standoff with security personnel, who opted to halt the ticket sales for a while.
