Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim is still the president of Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), its secretary-general Hamidin Mohd Amin said today.
In a statement, Hamidin said that although he was shocked by Tunku Ismail's announcement last night about leaving Malaysian football, upon scrutiny, he found that the statement was more of the latter's way of expressing disappointment with netizens who often blamed the FAM president when the national team's ranking fell.
"To me, Tunku Ismail does not have to quit as FAM president just because of some netizens.
"It is worth noting that many successes were recorded (in national football) in the past one year under Tunku Ismail's leadership," Hamidin said.
He was responding to the statement by the crown prince in the Johor Southern Tigers Facebook page yesterday evening, titled "History made, it is time", in which Tunku Ismail said he was "leaving" his position in FAM, following Malaysia's drop of three spots in Fifa's latest world ranking, to the lowest ever 178th rung.
Hamidin (photo) pointed out the increase in sponsorship for the Super League and Premier League teams, the improved performances of the younger teams, as well as the good relationship with foreign parties in the sport, including Fifa and the AFC (Asian Football Confederation), as among Tunku Ismail's achievements.
"Therefore, the executive committee members of FAM and I have agreed to remain steadfast behind Tunku Ismail's leadership as the FAM president and want him to continue holding on to the position.
"In fact, representatives from Fifa and AFC contacted me last night to ask about the matter and they were in agreement that Tunku Ismail should continue to helm FAM.
"Lastly, I would like to stress that Tunku Ismail is still the legitimate FAM president because, according to FAM procedure, if any of its executive committee members want to resign, the individual has to send a formal letter (of resignation) and the committee has the right to either accept or reject the resignation," Hamidin said.
