Opportunity for deadly combo to make transition into the boardroom

IN other parts of the world, former athletes are celebrated as cerebral figures with the clout to effect changes, long after they have retired.

A few made the transition from the dressing room to the boardroom with ease and panache.

Some may not be so lucky.

In Malaysia, it is rare for footballers of legendary stature to be elected into office at the national governing body, let alone be installed among the upper echelons of the FA of Malaysia (FAM).If Datuk Soh Chin Ann was an appointed executive committee member in 2007, the likes of Datuk Seri Azzuddin Ahmad and Datuk Dell Akbar Hyder Khan served as the general secretary in the 2000s, while former international Rosli Hussain was the deputy general secretary.

Datuk Dollah Salleh and Datuk Zainal Abidin Hassan have again blazed the trail.

At one time a deadly duo on the pitch, they are now officially among the decision-makers in the perennially beleaguered association.

Dollah has earned a rare distinction of being the first player and former national coach to be elected as vice-president of FAM in the FAM congress yesterday.

Along with two new faces – Perak’s Datuk Mohd Azhar Jamaluddin and Negri Sembilan’s N. Saaran – Dollah is expected to be given a key role for the 2025-2029 term.

Kelantan’s Datuk Seri Rosmadi Ismail has retained his seat from the previous term.

Rosmadi and Azhar secured the highest number of votes with 17 each, followed by Dollah with 16 and Saaran with 13.

Traditionally, the vice-presidents of FAM are tasked to head key committees in the committee-based structure.

Rosmadi, in the previous term, was the chairman of the futsal and beach football committee.

The competitions committee were previously headed by Mohd Firdaus Mohamed, who this time could not garner enough nominations to go for the deputy presidency, comfortably paving the way for incumbents, Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mahadi and Datuk S. Sivasundaram, to return unopposed.

Newly-installed FAM president, Datuk Mohd Joehari Mohd Ayub, served as the status committee chairman in his previous post as the vice-president from 2021-2025, taking punitive measures against teams saddled with unpaid wages.

Interestingly, both Dollah and Zainal share a similar career trajectory.

From becoming the scourge of defenders on the domestic and international front to being respected and victorious tacticians, Dollah and Zainal made the successful transition into coaching.

For many years, Dollah was Johor’s shortest route to goals. At the age of 25 in 1988, he made the decision to join Selangor, which led to the three-year ban by Johor, later reduced to six month and declared valid only in the State by the High Court.

Flanked by Zainal and Fandi Ahmad, Dollah was a member of the much-vaunted triumvirate of the Pahang dream team that lifted four Cups in 1992 under former Manchester United assistant coach, Mike Brown.

As key members of the national set-up, Dollah and Zainal served under a number of coaches, including Mohamad Bakar, Josef Venglos, Trevor Hartley, Rahim Abdullah, Ken Worden, Claude Le Roy and Wan Jamak Wan Hassan, counting winning the SEA Games gold medal in Kuala Lumpur in 1989, Merdeka Tournament and Jakarta Anniversary Cup in 1993 as the highlights of their career.

For those who grew up in the 1980s, Dollah’s long range left-footed shot that earned a famous win over South Korea in a pre-World Cup tie at the Merdeka Stadium in March, 1985 remains one of Malaysia’s greatest ever international goals.

Dollah’s Midas touch was evident even before he hung up his boots for good. As a player-cum-coach, he brought Selangor MPPJ to the Malaysia Cup title in 2003 and two years later, charted a successful season for Selangor as Bambang Pamungkas and Co wreaked havoc en route to another Malaysia Cup victory for Dollah.In 2014, Dollah was called upon to deliver the goods as the national team supremo, taking Harimau Malaya to the AFF Cup runners-up title.

However, his stint ended in disastrous fashion following the 10-0 humiliation by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a World Cup qualifying match in Abu Dhabi in 2015.

Now the deadly duo – with Dollah as a vice-president flanked by Zainal as an executive committee member – will be directly involved in the decision-making process that could make or break Malaysian football.

An unenviable task indeed.