KANGAR, Sept 20 — The Malaysia Malay Football Association (PBSMM) hopes the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) led by the Tengku Mahkota Johor, Tunku Ismail Idris Sultan Ibrahim can help revitalise and bring back prestige to the Sultans Gold Cup competition.
PBSMM vice-president, Datuk Ramlan Askolani said Tunku Ismail’s deep interest in football could not be denied and hopefully, the latter would not just focus on the Malaysian League.
“The Sultans Gold Cup competition can be improved if FAM could provide more funds for PBSMM to be distributed to the states, besides extending the competition period.
“I am confident if this is done, we will be able to make the Sultans Gold Cup competition more prestigious,” he told reporters after a welcoming dinner hosted by the Perlis Malay Football Association (PBMPs) for teams in Group A of this season’s competition.
The four teams are Perlis, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), Malaysia Prisons Department and Kuala Lumpur. The matches are held today, tomorrow and on Saturday. The top two teams in each group will advance to the second round.
Ramlan said the respective state Malay football associations did not have enough funds to form and manage their teams properly, especially in paying allowance to their players.
“We plan to hold a Nusantara Football Tournament involving countries in the region with Malay communities. This plan can become a reality within four or five years if PBSMM obtains sponsorship, besides having enough funds,” he added.
Ramlan, who was a national midfielder in the 1980’s, said the Sultans Gold Cup competition had produced many talented players who were able to represent the country at the international level, hence it deserved attention and support from FAM.
Meanwhile, PBMPs president Datuk Redzuan Sheikh Ahmad said the short competition period for the Sultans Gold Cup had made it unattractive for sponsors to support the competing teams.
“Thus, due to the difficulty in obtaining sponsorship, this competition is in a rather sorry state but the problems can be overcome if FAM injects sufficient funds,” said the former two-term FAM vice-president and one-term deputy president.
Redzuan said extending this year’s Sultans Gold Cup competition period to three months from September to November could be the start for better things for PBSMM in reorganising the competition, besides attracting sponsors and wider television broadcast coverage.
“PBSMM is the oldest football association (in this country), so we don’t want the Sultans Gold Cup competition to vanish just like that,” said Redzuan, who has been heading PBMPs since 1976. — Bernama
