No need to put Faiz on pedestal, says Tunku Ismail

PETALING JAYA: Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim (pic) has congratulated Faiz Subri on his FIFA Puskas Award victory but said there was no need to put the player on a pedestal.

He also said that Faiz's achievement shouldn't be taken as a reflection of the overall state of Malaysian football.

Tunku Ismail added that he did not agree with the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), which stated that Faiz's goal was a benchmark for Malaysian football.

"Personally, I do not want to be a part of the Malaysian mentality.

"This is a good individual achievement, but we must ask, where does the national football stand in terms of corruption, international standing, and team management in comparison to teams like Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines or Indonesia that are on a constant and rapid incline," he said in a post on the Johor Southern Tigers Facebook page on Tuesday.

Tunku Ismail claimed that Faiz has scored that one goal but apart from it, hasn't made much of an impression throughout the season.

He added that Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) was the benchmark for Malaysian football and that the club's achievement in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup was how the world learned about them.

"They've given their highest recognition after seeing our professional management blue print we have in place as well as the various projects that we've carried out. That should be the benchmark for Malaysian football.

"JDT should be a model for all teams in this country to emulate, and not use an individual who scored one goal as a benchmark," he said.

He added that he would be prouder to give recognition to players such as Zainal Abidin Hassan, Dollah Salleh, Santokh Singh, Amri Yahyah, Safiq Rahim, Aidil Zafuan, Safee Sali, Badrol Radzi, Indraputra, Khairul Fahmi and Hairuddin Omar as they have scored goals every season and achieved success at the clubs they have represented.

"Our football is still straggling and our world ranking is still ranked very low. No one is making any initiative to raise the level of football management for our nation's football or raising the standards of our league," he said, adding that everyone should work together to end favouritism, corruption and raise the level of the national team.

"All of you are overly proud of an individual, but choose not to address more important elements such as our integrity and the current reputation of our national football which I'm sure everyone is aware of," he said.