PETALING JAYA: Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim has dismissed talk that his football development project with the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has failed following FIFA’s suspension of seven heritage players, describing it instead as just a “hiccup.”
Tunku Ismail, who also owns Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT), said the issue was merely a temporary challenge and not a sign of failure for the national team.
He stressed that Malaysia have shown clear progress under head coach Peter Cklamovski, with a more organised structure and noticeable improvements in both tactical and technical play.
“You’re the ones calling it a football revolution, not me. I don’t see it as a failure. If you look at the structure under Peter, you can see the difference.
“The players are not confused — they know what to do on the pitch. From a tactical and technical standpoint, I can see improvement. For me, I’ll always fight for the players because they are Malaysians and they deserve to represent the country,” said Tunku Ismail.
The Regent said he will continue to stand by the seven players suspended by FIFA as he believes they have done nothing wrong and that the documents supporting their eligibility are valid.
“This is not a failure. This is just a hiccup that we have to face and fight through.
“We can’t just give up or bow down. We must be brave because we’re on the right side. We have all the proper documents. Even if FIFA made its decision based on technical grounds, that’s within their authority.
“But we’ll keep fighting, for as long as it takes,” he said.
