Foul!

UPDATED (Nov 21, 10.55am): Below is veteran journalist Tony Mariadass' view regarding the trip to Perth --- ORIGINAL POST Several Kuala Lumpur FA officials are currently in Perth as part of a study group to learn more about the football structure there. Led by Federal Territories Ministry secretary-general Datuk Seri Adnan Md Ikshan, officials of the newly promoted Super League outfit had earlier today met representatives from Perth Glory FC including club owner Tony Sage and chief executive officer Peter Filopoulos. The other KLFA officials include KLFA Deputy President Datuk Astaman Abdul Aziz, general-secretary Nokman Mustaffa and executive member Hew Tze Ken. The visiting officials were eager to study Perth Glory FC's: - structure. - vision and mission. - Perth Glory Way 4 year plan. They also watched an A-League match between Perth Glory and Melbourne Victory yesterday. The Melbourne side won 2-0 thanks to goals scored by Besart Berisha and Leroy Georg...

While KLFA is struggling to find talents, they have certainly honed several budding politicians along the way. KLFA vice president Johari Abdul Ghani and exco member Rusli Baba ( pic, far left ) were among the names that popped up during the nomination process for the 13th general election yesterday. BN's Johari is contesting for the Titiwangsa parliamentary seat while Rusli - who was the former team manager - surprised many as he will contest as an independent candidate against heavyweights Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin (BN) and Nurul Izzah Anwar (PKR) for the Lembah Pantai seat. For the record, KLFA president Astaman Abdul Aziz held the Titiwangsa seat after winning the 2004 election. Astaman is the son of former Umno veteran and cabinet minister Aishah Ghani who passed away on Friday. Read more in today's The Malay Mail on Sunday . Sadly, KL are placed 10th in the second-tier Premier League. HD says: Sincere condolences to Astaman and family; if only offici...

KLFA general secretary Nokman Mustaffa confirmed the city side is not pulling out from the Premier League. "Yes we still have money issues and yes a statement has been made but I believe it is out of frustration and we are all equally frustrated (with the lack of funds).  But we still have time to scout for money and hopefully we will be able to find enough funds to play in the Premier League next season. Otherwise it would be the FAM league for us." However, another senior official, who didn't want to be named for obvious reasons, had this to say; "The president (Astaman Abd Aziz - pic) is frustrated. He needs the cash as he can't be forking out his own money anymore. It's like what you've (the author) been saying all this while, if Astaman continues to use his own money, might as well we call it Astaman FA! "The (KL) mayor is supportive indeed but we believe there are some little Napoleons who would love to see Astaman out from the hot se...

I had another dream about KL football. Just as the KL FA is trying to stand on its feet through KL City Hall, an individual appears out of no where. I can't really make out his face, but the individual is associated to the former Minister of the Federal Territories Zulhasnan Rafique who is the Member of Parliament for Setiawangsa. In the dream it was evident this individual and the current KLFA president Astaman Abdul Aziz do not see eye to eye due. Astaman is also with Umno Setiawangsa. So politics came into play as the individual is close to current KL Mayor Ahmad Phesal Talib who was Zulhasnan's secretary in the above-mentioned ministry. However, Ahmad Phesal already announced his commitment of becoming KLFA's advisor. Just as I was expecting a happy ending, I woke up. It was a weird dream.  This is my second dream about KLFA and I hope it is just a dream. If KLFA does not just rely on KL City Hall for funds alone, I'm sure they could avoid such an...

Kelantan digelar juara Liga Super 2012. Tahniah kepada jurulatih pasukan Bojan Hodak dan anak buahnya. Nampak gaya Kelantan lah yang menyelamatkan martabat Liga Super musim ini. Bayangkan kalau pasukan Singapura LionsXII yang menang. Hmm... Sudah pasti ramai juga akan tertanya-tanya apa yang melintas fikiran Annuar Musa yang bertikam lidah dengan Persatuan Bola Sepak Malaysia (FAM) disebabkan artikel 88 - artikel kuno yang kuat diperdebatkan sebelum ini. Bercakap mengenai FAM, Kongres yang ke-48 telah berlangsung semalam tetapi malang sekali Artikel 88 tidak diperbincangkan. Ini kerana hanya usul-usul yang "menetapi syarat-syarat" dibawa ke Kongres kali ini. Semasa Kongres, presiden persatuan bola sepak Perlis Shahidan Kassim mengaju soalan kepada presiden FAM Sultan Ahmad Shah mengenai tafsiran perkataan 'Media' dalam Statut FAM dan adakah perkataan tersebut merangkumi Media arus perdana, social dan alternatif. Shahidan juga bertanya mengapa setiausaha ag...

The KL Football Association (KLFA) are hoping to realise their dream of turning school fields into sporting hubs for the community. KLFA president Astaman Abdul Aziz watched last week's edition of Bola@Mamak and immediately called me when I spoke about the lack of playing spaces in KL. "Are you on air now?" was his first question. Astaman then went on to explain; "By laying artificial turfs on school fields, we can address the problem of lack of playing fields in KL and we will be able to see more youngsters take up the sport on a proper surface." I do hope KLFA's ambition will be supported by the powers-that-be and corporate bodies. After all this is in line with the RM50 million allocation made by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak in the 2012 Budget recently. Read of KLFA's aspiration in today's Mailsport. HD says: At least this will ensure KL will continue to have fields.