Tunku Ismail calls for live TV debate on state of Malaysian football

Bernama pic

PETALING JAYA: Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim (pic) has proposed a live television talk on the decline of Malaysian football and who is responsible for it.

The Johor Crown Prince said that the debate should be between himself, a representative from the Football Association of Malaysia, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin, national coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee, National Football Development Plan project director Lim Teong Kim and former Malaysian coach B. Sathianathan.

“Let’s do it for our football fans. Their voices should be our priority because we serve them and they have the right to know the truth about what is the actual problem facing Malaysian football,” he said in a statement on the Johor Southern Tigers Facebook page on Tuesday.

Tunku Ismail said that he was not a politician and did not need votes, and had no intention of being FAM president either.

“I’m doing this because I’m sick and tired of the lies and cover up. As the people’s prince, the people’s voices must be heard and their voices are my priority,” he said.

While he agreed that the national players lack quality, he questioned who was at fault for this.

Tunku Ismail said that as a military man, he was trained to be responsible and if any soldier is found to be not fit, it means that there is a wrong system in place and that they were not trained well.

“So now I ask the same question. If our footballers lack quality, whose fault is that? It’s the system in our football associations and our coaches’ training. Simple,” he said adding that the players should not be blamed.

Tunku Ismail added that the “big people” at football clubs, associations and coaches should take responsibility and say that it’s their fault.

“You can’t change something when you don’t know what’s the problem. That’s why I say the best way is to put me on live television so the whole country can know what is the actual problem. Enough with the cover up. Be transparent,” he said.