PETALING JAYA: Johor Regent and Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) owner Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim has criticised pundits for focusing solely on refereeing standards and heritage player controversies.
He said there are far more pressing issues currently affecting the landscape of Malaysian football.
In a social media post, Tunku Ismail defended JDT’s track record and questioned the narrative that the sport is in decline.
"Presidents come and go, coaches come and go, players come and go, and opponents come and go. But JDT’s consistency cannot be denied," he said.
He took aim at "so-called experts" who claim the sport is in crisis due to refereeing quality and the issue of seven mixed-heritage players.
"Why is no one talking about the real crises, such as the previous leadership of the governing body failing to distribute television rights revenue to competing teams?" he asked.
He also questioned why no one has raised the lack of competitive tournaments for youth development.
Tunku Ismail highlighted longstanding structural problems, including years of unpaid wages and the failure to manage funds.
"Why are we still playing on ‘cow grass’? Why are stadiums still dilapidated and floodlights still dim and yellow? Why haven’t teams had proper training centres for decades?" he said.
He further alleged that critics were deflecting attention from deep-seated issues within their own clubs.
Tunku Ismail suggested that most of these problems exist within the teams the experts support.
"What is the easiest way to mislead fans? Point fingers at other issues and other people to cover up your own weaknesses and failures," he said.
He described the current discourse as "pure hypocrisy" used to mask the failures of management in teams that have existed for decades.
