KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 — The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) have denied exploiting the Harimau Malaya squad for profit in the inaugural 2019 Airmarine Cup, which kicks off at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil tomorrow.
FAM secretary-general Stuart Ramalingam said in a statement today that from a marketing and commercial viewpoint, the national body had to maximise the team’s value to generate income as well as find other sources of income to be channelled for the development of the various national age-group squads.
“As FAM have limited funds, we welcome offers from third parties, like ProEvents, to organise this tournament. They (ProEvents), as the promoter of this tournament, have taken a risk to source for sponsors on their own and bear the operational cost of bringing in the other three teams (Oman, Singapore and Afghanistan),” he said.
Earlier, the Ultras Malaya, a group of hardcore supporters of the national football team, announced through its Twitter account today of its decision to boycott the Airmarine Cup, claiming that tickets were priced at RM35 (free seating) to enrich certain parties.
Commenting further, Stuart said FAM would use the RM300,000 organisational fee received from ProEvents to cover the operational costs and team bonuses before being channelled to FAM’s management team.
“FAM accepted ProEvents’ offer to organise the tournament with the hope that Malaysia will earn valuable ranking points and exposure as well as do well to be placed among the top 34 countries in Asia. This will help Malaysia avoid the qualifying playoffs for the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asia Cup.
“That’s why we hope all Harimau Malaya supporters will turn up in full force to cheer the team on,” he said.
Malaysia, coached by Tan Cheng Hoe, will open their campaign in the four-nation Airmarine Cup against Singapore tomorrow (8.45pm) while Oman will take on Afghanistan (4.30pm). On March 23, the winners will meet in the final while the losers will clash in the third placing playoff. — Bernama
