A Tale Of Two Clubs

As Kedah FA might see a new President in the coming weeks, perhaps the club players and fans will finally get the leadership they deserve. 

Taufiq Ahmad

The Malaysian football scene is not without a few dramas. While similar to other football scenes around the world, Malaysians more often than not have to deal with politicians in the equation as well. 

And more often than not, the well-being of the football clubs are interlinked with the leadership capability of the person in charge of the state itself. 

In what was seen by many in the scene as an absolute blunder of football management, the Kedah Football Association (KFA) came into the limelight in April due to its inability to pay its players. In a widely criticised attempt at crisis PR, the Kedah state team’s Secretary General Asmirul Anuar Aris tried to deflect the poor management of the club on the COVID-19 pandemic that pushed the entire world into turmoil.

While it is undeniable that COVID-19 has affected the cash flow operations of Malaysia’s football clubs, it is also the responsibility of the clubs themselves to ensure that they have proper contingencies in place to deal with back swan events such as the one we are facing right now. The fact that KFA has not paid their players for months should testament to the fact that the club’s management is in shambles.

Many of us are of course not surprised, looking at the President of KFA himself, Darul Seri Mukhriz Mahathir. Being the then-Chief Minister of the northern state, Mukhriz Mahathir no doubt busied himself with incessant politicking to save his skin in the game as opposed to actually sit down and figure out a solution to the problem that plagued his club. 

Facing a large swathe of state assemblymen abandoning the Pakatan Harapan ship to side with the federal government led by Perikatan Nasional, as well as having his hands full to deal with the infighting in his own party BERSATU, KFA players were left with no one to turn to, not even the incompetent Secretary General Asmirul himself.

It is an absolute embarrassment for the development of Malaysian football when there are actual state clubs being so badly managed to the point that they are not able to pay their own players for months – and leave them hanging. Up until today, there has been no official solution to this.

Despite all the negativity, there is at least one club we can look at and still have hope that Malaysian football is at least progressing on one end – being led by the tigers from the south.

The Johor Darul Ta’zim football club, commonly known as JDT, is the first ever Malaysian club to win a continental title, having won the AFC Cup in 2015 – and is the product of a merger of the Johor state team and club side Johor FC. Prior to 2014 itself Johor only managed to pick up four major trophies in the Malaysian scene that dates back to 1921. 

Everything that changed after the momentous merger, and the current growing strength that we see today, is the result of HRH Tunku Ismail, the Tunku Mahkota of Johor. 

With a major upgrade in training infrastructure as well as the improvement on the squad itself, JDT went on to lift their first Super League title in 2014 – and has yet to relinquish it since. The club also saw improvements in cash flow and business management, making it the best on all fronts in just under 10 years. 

When we talk about Malaysian football, this is what we should talk about. Leadership to steer the development of one of our nation’s favourite sport – and who does it best. 

Despite many critics viewing JDT unfavourably, the club itself has transcended beyond sports and evolved into a unifying point for Johoreans regardless of race and religion. Whenever there is a JDT game, Johoreans will flock to the mamak shops or sit in front of the TVs to support their club – the same cannot be said the same of other clubs in Malaysia.

One might be tempted to say that people like Mukhriz Mahathir might have more pressing matters to attend to as he is the Chief Minister of Kedah – how how true is this? TMJ, being the Crown Prince of Johor, regularly goes down to the ground to assist his subjects – we saw this at the advent of the COVID-19 crisis when thousands of families and communities in Johor received direct assistance within weeks through handouts of cash and essential food items. 

Mukhriz on the other hand, despite being the supposed leader of Kedah, doesn’t even live in the state he is supposed to be looking after – and is known to travel back and forth between Kedah and KL using the rakyat’s money. 

As both of them play a similar role as a leader of their respective states, what actually made Mukhriz Mahathir so incompetent?

As Kedah FA might see a new President in the coming weeks, perhaps the club players and fans will finally get the leadership they deserve.