Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin has described the conspiracy to topple the Tunku Mahkota of Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim as Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president as the work of the insane.  

He said Tunku Ismail had just been appointed as the new president and had shown transformation and raised the standard of football in the country, should be given the opportunity to lead the governing body.

“If there was a conspiracy, this is the work of the insane...we had just elected a new president. He has started making changes and there was an improvement, so why must we disrupt him, let him do his work.

“If there was a conspiracy, I would completely disagree and we should jointly fight the conspirators. We have pledged our support to the new president, let him do his work,” he told reporters after opening the 48th Yuen Loong Gold Cup Badminton Championships here today.

He was commenting on media reports on Wednesday which quoted Tunku Ismail as saying there was a conspiracy to oust him from the top FAM post.

The report also mentioned Tunku Ismail revealed a handful of exco members wanted him to let go of the top post and there was also an attempt to remove Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP) chief executive officer Kevin Ramalingam.

Earlier, Khairy in his speech congratulated Rasah Ma Hwa Former Student Association for organising the amateur badminton championship continuously for 48 years from 1969 which was a record in the Malaysia Book Of Records as the oldest tournament organised in the country.

“This is not an easy achievement...many parties had organised all kinds of tournaments but in Malaysia, it does not last long after a while. However, the Yuen Loong Gold Cup has continued and this is a great feat.

“This effort is most welcomed and this shows Malaysians are ready to make Malaysia as a sporting nation. The time has come to lead this wave to develop sports from the grassroot as we need such competitions to scout for new talents,” he said.

In this regard, Khairy said the sports had become a platform to inspire the people in the country especially the youths to stay away from social ills. 

Also present at the ceremony was Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Mohamad Norza Zakaria.

-- Bernama