I don’t take advice from failed leader, TMJ tells Umno info chief

Johor crown prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim has taken a thinly-veiled swipe at Umno information chief Annuar Musa, stressing that he will not take advice from leaders who “failed to lead”.

“I don’t need to take advice from a leader who has failed to lead,” he said in a Facebook posting.

This was after Annuar, who last month resigned as Kelantan Football Association (Kafa) president, advised Tunku Ismail to decide if he wanted to become the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president and not govern by proxy.

Tunku Ismail did not name Annuar, merely addressing him as “a Tan Sri” and ripped into him for leading Kafa into further financial trouble despite a RM16 million sponsorship by Vida Beauty.

“When you were in the position where you had numerous sponsors, you should have used that opportunity to clear all your debts.

“Instead, you made the executive decision to employ a new foreign coach as well as three additional foreign players.

“With this decision, the ones who fell victim were the local players as they didn’t receive their salaries. Priority should be given to the local players and not the foreigners.

“It clearly shows that you overpaid these foreigners and as a result, you were not able to sustain the club,” he said.

The Kelantan football team, once a top team known as The Red Warriors, is now mulling to drop out of the Malaysia Super League due to lack of funds.

Tunku Ismail said Kafa’s woes did not end there as its performance began to deteriorate and it was apparent the “ship was sinking”.

“To make things worse as a leader, you chose to abandon the ship leaving them to suffer.

“And it’s embarrassing when in that situation, you still have the desire to be FAM’s president,” he said in reference to Annuar’s resignation from Kafa last month.

Annuar had previously expressed interest in wanting to contest for the position of FAM president.

While refusing to take Annuar’s advice, Tunku Ismail had his own advice for the Ketereh MP.

“My advice to you is, concentrate on your political work. You are a very seasoned and senior politician and we respect the work that you’ve done.

“Hence, please focus on your political obligations and may you be able to clear the mess and scandal in Mara.

“Let’s leave it to the people to decide on what is best for Malaysian football,” he said.

Tunku Ismail said he was merely involved in football because he loved the sport and it did not benefit him in anyway.

“The difference between me and certain individuals is they serve a political ideology and for their own personal interests. I serve the people,” he said.- Mkini