Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim has tendered his resignation letter as president of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), stating that “tigers cannot work for sheep”.

“I am like a tiger who should not be working for sheep because tigers and sheep cannot sit together. Tigers need to work with tigers.

“I want to thank those who trusted me. Here is my letter of resignation as FAM president,” he told a press conference at the Football Malaysia LLP (FMLLP) Congress 2018 today.

During his tenure as FAM president, the crown prince said he had effected many positive changes for Malaysian football, such as an increase in sponsorship and changes to the structure of FMLLP.

“I am the best guy in the business of football, maybe in the country or in Southeast Asia. I know what I am doing, I love football, I am passionate and I bring in the money.

“Somehow this face makes money, and money is good (for Malaysian football),” he added.

However, Tunku Ismail said despite all his work, he is still judged by the performance of the national team.

“To me, I have one principle in life. Time is everything. It does not matter how rich or powerful someone is, what is gone in five minutes cannot be returned.

“What is gone is gone, so I do not want to waste my time serving people who are not so intelligent, those who are stupid,” he added.

The crown prince admitted that he can be arrogant, but only to “monkeys” who are undeserving of his respect.

“I am only humble to those who deserve my humility. But to those who are like monkeys, I will be arrogant, that is how it is,” he said.

Since he has resigned as FAM president, Tunku Ismail said he no longer wants to concern himself with the matters of FAM or the national team.

As the chairperson of FMLLP, now renamed Malaysian Football League (MFL), the crown prince said his only duty now is to take care of the interest of the league and the participating teams.

“If I am selfish and I really wanted to dominate football in Malaysia... I would leave FMLLP, no more sponsors and you would all be finished.

“But because I am too kind-hearted, I still take care of the interest of the league. I am a gentleman, I am a trained soldier, I never leave my men behind.

“I am not interested (in FAM and the national team). I am interested in taking care of the integrity and value of the league,” he added.

Tunku Ismail had first stated his desire to leave his position as FAM president on March 15, in a statement posted on the Johor Southern Tigers Facebook page.

After stating his achievements as FAM president in the posting, he noted that the national team’s recent fall of three spots in the Fifa world ranking was a “very big failure”.

This was in reference to the Fifa ranking released the same day, which showed Malaysia’s lowest ever fall to the 178th spot, following a winless run since November 2016.

“With that being said, I think it is time that the president of FAM leaves football. Thank you for everything and it has been an honour to me to serve Malaysian football. Good luck,” he had said.

On Thursday, Malaysia drew 2-2 with Mongolia, which is currently ranked 189 in the world.