Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia has proposed thrown up Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin as a “better” candidate for Football Association Malaysia (FAM) president.

This is amidst an ongoing verbal spat between Johor crown prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim and Umno information chief Annuar Musa

Annuar, who last November resigned as Kelantan Football Association (Kafa) president, advised Tunku Ismail to decide if he wanted to become the FAM president rather than govern by proxy.

The Johor crown prince has been vocal about the way football was managed in the country.

Utusan's weekend edition Mingguan, in an editorial by its senior editors under the collective pseudonym 'Awang Selamat', said the ongoing spat was “unhealthy”.

Instead, 'Awang' recommended the minister and Umno Youth chief for the post.

“There are many better choices for FAM president than the former Kafa president and the Johor Tigers (JDT) club owner Tunku Ismail,” wrote the editorial.

“Awang sees another credible candidate, which is Khairy himself.

“Cabinet ministers, even former prime ministers (Tunku Abdul Rahman and Abdul Razak) have been FAM presidents at one time.

Mingguan said Khairy's presidency would be beneficial to the sport in the position.

More tangles than tackles

Awang said presently, controversy over football was more intense than the prestige of the sport itself.

“The issue of sponsorship (of Kelantan's The Red Warriors) has become among the issues. Awang views that if such a situation like this continues, it is extremely unhealthy.”

This week Mara, whose chairperson is Annuar Musa, was accused of channeling its funds into sponsorship of the ailing Kelantan Warriors.

While Annuar has deflected the allegations, lawyer for former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Haniff Khatri Abdulla, said denials were not insufficient to close the matter, and urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate the claims.