A month ago when Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim met with local football fans at the Grand Hyatt, he noted that becoming the president of Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) will not be an easy task.
“Kerusi FAM adalah yang paling panas. Selalu kena hentam je! (Everyone blames the FAM president for everything).” the Johor Crown Prince confessed.
Fourteen days into his FAM presidency, and that is proving to be true. Although Tunku Ismail stayed true to his words to restructure FAM and revamp the local football landscape, his actions are being heavily criticised by many parties.
Tunku Ismail received backlash when Kedah’s head coach Tan Cheng Hoe tendered his resignation to the Kedah Football Association (KFA), after the popular Kedah coach was earmarked to join the national football squad as assistant head coach.
“I have set a policy where every foreign coach must be assisted by a local coach. Isn’t Tan Cheng Hoe currently a good local coach?” a confounded Tunku Ismail said in a Facebook statement.
“I’m trying to find the best partnership for the national team but the fans are saying ‘don’t take him’, ‘pick someone else’. We started the project and asked for a shortlist of names, and Tan Cheng Hoe was listed and seen as the best coach at the moment. Isn’t picking the best to lead the national team our priority?”
He went on to slam local football fans for “wanting change” and then being unable to accept it when changes are made.
“Do you all really love the national team? And do you all really want changes? What do you all actually want?”
Tunku Ismail added that Malaysian football will go nowhere if he were to worry about everyone’s feelings. In order to move forward, he urged for a change in mentality among local football fans.
“The level of honesty and information that I have given in the past 11 days as the president is already more than what you got in the past 30 years, but you all still complain. This is the Malaysian football mentality.”
“Good luck Malaysian football, good luck Malaysian football fans.” the FAM president concluded his statement.
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