Sayf’s audacious presidency bid and first foreign CEO — football drama continues

WE shall leave it to the sport of football to hog the limelight as we step into 2025.

The appointment of former Canadian international Rob Friend as the chief executive of Harimau Malaya begs this question: “Are we prepared to accept the recruitment of foreign sports managers or co-ordinators at salaries many times higher than Malaysians doing the same jobs?

There seems to be not a single Malaysian who can be appointed and trusted to be the co-ordinator or manage to plan and execute programmes for the national team, which had hitherto been managed by Malaysians.

Is this not incompatible with our Malaysia Boleh spirit?

Friend will be the first ever foreigner to occupy the seat traditionally assumed by Malaysians.

If the role is for him to manage all matters related to the national team’s preparation – whether to arrange a top-tier international friendly match, coordinate training camps and accommodation and travelling, then the likes of Kelly Sathiraj, Darren Stewart, Azfendy Azzuddin and Steven Paul could perform the duty. All did deliver for Tan Cheng Hoe and Kim Pan-gon.

All four reported to the general secretary, who on paper, is the strategic thinker and chief executive of the FAM secretariat.

Friend comes with great credentials, though, having been CEO and co-founder of Pacific FC from 2019 to 2022 and as president and co-founder of Vancouver FC from 2022 to the present. As a player, the former striker represented Borussia Monchengladbach, Hertha Berlin, Eintracht Frankfurt, and 1860 Munich as well as LA Galaxy.

The Malaysian national set-up, however, will be Friend’s maiden attempt at managing a national team’s activities.

Nonetheless, Friend’s network across Europe and the Americas will add value to facilitate Peter Cklamovski from Australia as the national head coach and Mohd Nafuzi Zain as the head coach of the national U-23 squad.

While Cklamovski and Nafuzi will be tasked to deliver the results on the pitch, Friend is expected to head a team that will strategically find a way for Malaysia to earn higher ranking points, establish a high-performance environment for the coaching team and identify a pool of foreign-based talent who are connected to Malaysia by heritage.

Friend’s appointment, however, has not robbed Sayf Ismail from his moment in the sun. His audacious bid for the FAM presidency was announced via the social media platform X upon promptings from fellow activists and later reported by Bernama.

The former FAM head of marketing served from 2014 until 2017 under the outgoing FAM president Tan Sri Hamidin Mohd Amin when the latter was the general secretary.

Sayf, now a corporate trainer in the field of sustainability and environmental, social and governance, is also an Adjunct Professor at Universiti Malaya.

In his manifesto shared on X, Sayf has promised FAM’s affiliates an annual grant of RM200,000 to develop grassroots football through a five-pillar framework to reform FAM and tackle key issues in Malaysian football, including balancing the naturalisation of foreign players with the development of local talent.

For him to earn the right to contest in the elections, Sayf has to obtain a minimum six nominations. He has to convince at least six of the 18 FAM affiliates eligible to vote, to submit his nomination.

Speaking of which, the Perlis FA are dragging FAM to court after filing a lawsuit in Kangar last week but the national body said it was carried out in accordance with the national body’s constitution and established procedures.

FAM suspended PFA following the latter’s failure to comply with world body FIFA’s directive to pay outstanding wages, totalling RM998,000, to former PFA football director Matt Holland in 2019.

But the timing is questionable. Kelantan FA too have been suspended, with FAM citing irregularities in KAFA’s congress-cum-elections for the 2024-2028 term.

In the past, FAM had taken action against individuals and players for disciplinary reasons and being critical of the national body as stipulated in its statutes.

But two key affiliates of the body being suspended ahead of an election is unprecedented. Not during the days of Sultan Ahmad Shah and when the secretariat was headed by men of stature.

The principle of natural justice may have been trampled upon. With KAFA and PFA being led by individuals with legal background, a legal battle looms large.