Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim has rubbished the allegations of Harimau Malaysia supporters who accused him of favouritism towards his state of Johor after establishing Larkin Stadium as home ground for the national team.
The decision to change the location of the training centre from Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya to the Johor Darul Ta’zim training ground caused some discontent among the local fans as well.
According to Tunku Ismail, he is not showing any form of favouritism to his home state and added that training camps will be conducted in each state, based on the agreed upon terms.
“We (FAM) have already decided that the training camps for the national team will be conducted in all of the states in the country,” Tunku Ismail said as quoted by Harian Metro.
“There will be friendly matches in Kelantan, Kedah, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak.
The Southern Tigers main man finally concluded that the criticism of the fans were unjust.
“To be completely honest, the issue at hand is not that important because we need to focus our efforts on things that matter, which is to improve the quality of football in the country.
“We basically need to have a professional structure and hire the best foreign coaches to share their knowledge with the boys. That will help us learn and grow,” he concluded.
Harimau Malaya will face Lebanon in their opening Asian Cup qualifier on June 13.
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