TMJ says football used as political tool as election is around the corner

Johor crown prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim has expressed his disappointment over the level of “hypocrisy” in sports and other issues happening in Malaysia.

In a Facebook post, the owner of JDT FC said it greatly amuses him to see how politicians are handling the football clubs.

“I’m amazed with the level of hypocrisy that is happening in my country, be it sports or other issues.

“I’m upset and disappointed with the statement given by some leaders and senior politicians who try to use football as a political tool,” he said.

“But (then) I soon realised that it's not so surprising after all as the election is just around the corner,” he added.

Tunku Ismail’s statement appears to be issued in response to prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s request for former Kelantan Football Association (Kafa) president Annuar Musa to help the association resolve its financial problems.

This follows Kafa’s decision to withdraw from the 2017 Malaysian Super League due to financial constraints.

“Here we are trying to educate football fans and clubs that football clubs are responsible for their own finances and actions and that the government's money should be used only for the people’s welfare.

“Today however, we have clubs who misuse their funds and then threatening to pull out of the league just to gain sympathy and get some form of assistance from the government,” he said.

Commenting further, Tunku Ismail said the government and politicians often view the situation as an opportunity for them to achieve their political party's agendas.

“So if this is the case, I think all teams should threaten to pull out so we all can get money from the government and politicians since this is the game they are playing.

Tunku Ismail had last week taken a thinly-veiled swipe at Annuar, stressing that he will not take advice from leaders who “failed to lead”.

This was after Annuar had advised Tunku Ismail to decide if he wanted to become the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president and not govern by proxy.- Mkini