Foul!

Haresh Says, as published in The Malay Mail today. All eyes will be on the FA of Malaysia (FAM) congress on May 25 as we will witness a three-cornered fight between Sultan Ahmad Shah, his son Tengku Abdullah and Tunku Ismail Ibrahim for the top seat. However, observers continue to question if these three candidates are ideal to lead the national body as Malaysian football has remained stagnant, if not in poor state, over the years. Some say the three-way race is just a “drama”, to show there is finally a contest for the hot seat. Those who have been following FAM long enough know of a succession plan that has been around for years — that Tengku Abdullah is to take over his father’s post. Sultan Ahmad has been FAM president since 1984 while Tengku Abdullah is also the president of the Malaysian Hockey Confederation. Tunku Ismail, who is the crown prince of Johor, is hailed by Johor fans as the saviour for the Southern Tigers since helming Johor FA two years ago. It is a fact that Joho...

My heart goes out to the family members of those on board Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.    Haresh Says, as published in Mailsports today. Images of team officials and players arguing on the sidelines followed by claims of assault in the tunnel at Larkin Stadium on February 1 have been grabbing the headlines recently. There was hesitance by certain quarters to name those involved during half-time of the Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) against T-Team after several players and officials claimed Johor FA president Tunku Ismail Ibrahim, who is also the Crown Prince of Johor, was in the tunnel. In a Super League match on February 7, Pahang’s Jamaican player Damion Stewart claimed he was subjected to abuse by JDT Argentinean imports Luciano Figuero and Pablo Aimar. It is now the final week of March, almost two months since both incidents took place. Yet, the FA of Malaysia (FAM) disciplinary board have yet to discuss these incidents. Why the delay? ...

Who said what? Taken out of context or speaking without proper evidence? This is the subject raised in Haresh Says today citing the recent comment made by the FA of Malaysia against Sarawak which received flak from the fans. Read more here .   Meanwhile, have Johor FA shot themselves in the foot? It looks like it after the FA had publicly said they have no problems with fans lighting up flares after the match. Now this is a big no-no under Article 52(c) of Fifa's Stadium Safety and Security Regulations. Read more in today's Mailsport . HD says: Oh boy...

It was a short meeting at the Pahang palace in KL and Tunku Ismail Ibrahim left immediately after. FA of Malaysia (FAM) president Sultan Ahmad Shah later revealed to the Media that Tunku Ismail - who is the crown prince of Johor - will stay put as Johor FA president. Tunku Ismail, through a press release on April 3, stated his intention of relinquishing his post. Also revealed during the press conference that Tunku Ismail was handed a warning letter by the Disciplinary Board last week after he was seen at the bench during the Darul Takzim-Terengganu match at the Larkin Stadium last month despite still serving his 6-month suspension for violating FAM's Article 88. As for the statement made by FAM requesting members of the Press to "be careful" when reporting about Tunku Ismail and that they received "instruction from the palace", world governing body Fifa described it as an "internal matter" - as per their email to the author. Read all this a...

Johor Prince Tunku Ismail Ibrahim has quit as Johor FA president after helming the association slightly over a year. His presence in the scene raised eyebrows due to the manner he was made president and was seen at the sidelines which is only restricted to accredited personnel. Money, and lots of it, was spent on getting some of the best players in town. Under his leadership, the management decided to change Super League club Johor FC as Darul Takzim FC while Premier League outfit Johor FA remained the same. Former Singapore international Fandi Ahmad was hired to guide the southern team. There was also the ' spat ' between Johor FA and Kelantan. He spoke publicly about match-fixing in the league and even claimed a police officer was involved. Tunku Ismail spoke his mind and shared his views with the author as reported here .   However, Tunku Ismail's comments , lambasting FAM's attitude in combating match-fixing and the poor refereeing standards did not come...

And it was done very quickly indeed. Selangor coach Irfan Bakti's words during the Malaysian Football Monthly, hosted by Ross Yusoff, certainly caught Astro Arena's Dez Corkhill, professional player Stanley Samuel and I by surprise. "Well at the moment we have another two foriegners with us and I heard there is a clause on this factor that we can register a new player to replace Ramez and at this moment we have Peter Chrappan from Slovakia and I hope tomorrow (today) morning we will receive the clearance from FAM and he will be able to play tomorrow (today)," said Irfan. Listen to the conversation here . What clause I wonder? That aside, can someone explain the April transfer window? Apparently players who are serving contracts but decide to mutually terminate the contracts with their employees are not allowed to play for another team when the window opens. Instead, it is strictly for players who do not have any on-going contracts with any M-League teams. ...

In the early part of last season, we kept reading about the spat between the FA of Malaysia (FAM) and Kelantan FA (Kafa) president Annuar Musa. This season begins with a war of words between Annuar Musa and Johor FA president Tunku Ismail Ibrahim . And the star of the current episode is Norshahrul Idlan Talaha. Better known as Mat Yo, the national striker was lured from Kelantan by Darul Takzim FC. During the national team's campaign in the AFF Cup, Norshahrul was offered a job with the southern club. Kafa claims it had no qualms releasing Norshahrul provided it was compensated. However, judging by the reports the deal didn't really go smoothly as seen here and here . Recently, Annuar Musa raised the transfer fee which has yet to be paid to Kafa. The Johor prince, had in a press conference in Johor Baru yesterday retaliated by saying ; “Don’t be childish and don’t politicise football .” That statement certainly didn't go down to well with Annuar Musa who ra...

I've checked with FAM. According to them, they have no clue of such news. In fact, if there's any decision or changes in Johor Football. I my self will announce it in a press conference during our annual general meeting. That was taken from Johor FA president Tunku Ismail Idris Sultan Ibrahim's twitter account. Then the Johor Prince went on to say (picture); There was never a request to FAM by Johor FA to have two teams next season. ESPN and FAM get your facts right before coming out with such statement. ESPN had merely lifted NST's article - Brunei eye return to M-League . The article read; Meanwhile, Johor FA, under the leadership of Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, had submitted a request to FAM to have two state teams for next season but the national body rejected it. So what's the real deal? HD says: Will Tunku Ismail face the Disciplinary Board for his outburst on twitter - in breach of the infamous and draconian Article 88 of the...

We spoke about many things during our two hours conversation in Johor Baru on Sunday. I told Tengku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Ibrahim that people generally don't like royalties and politicians in sports. I told him that he surprised many by claiming to be the Johor FA president even before the election was done. I asked him why the need to only have one state team when Johor FC is doing quite well. Last but not least, I also asked him about his fascination with Twitter. The young prince has big dreams. He expressed his love toward his grandfather, his father and the Indian Army. And when we spoke about his fleet of cars, he quickly said; " Mind you, we pay roadtax ". " We also don't take money from the government. It is channeled to a foundation instead ." Read this exclusive no-holds-barred interview in today's Mailsport. HD says: Tuanku, I thank you for your time. Hope we could spend more time soon. Full interview: Johor prince wants to change the fa...

UPDATE 12.16pm: FAM confirms Tengku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim is registered to sit at the sidelines. Read more in tomorrow's Mailsport . ------ This was taken from the Twitter account of Tengku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, the crown prince of Johor and the new Johor FA president. Honestly, I thought only those who are registered in the team list are allowed to sit on the bench. I could be wrong though. Perhaps the FA of Malaysia could enlighten us on this subject? Meanwhile, this was revealed by Tengku Ismail in another tweet of his; 3 Player Import Johor dari Brazil dah sampai di Johor Petang Tadi. Gabriel Batistuta ex Argentine World Cup Player akan ke Johor untuk berbincang degan Saya dan Fandi untuk lebih Mantapkan Lagi Pasukan Johor FA dan untuk assist Johor dengan Argentine Superstar Player jikalau Johor FA Ingin Dapat Import Player baru. Buat masa yang sama misi saya ialah, untuk memberi peluang kepada Player Tempatan dan Player muda untuk berlajar. HD says: Batistuta eh. Not bad Tu...

I'm here to Inform the People of Johor that I've Officially Taken Over Johor Football Association as the President of Johor Football. My Goal and Intention is to Kick Out the Politics and bring Back the Glorious Days of Johor Football to The People of Johor. At the same time I will also do My Best to Improve All Sports in Johor. I have Urged the State Government and Majlis Sukan Negeri to play more Roles in terms of Sports Activities and Educating the Youth to Excel thru Sports with the Aim of having them to do more Productive and Positive Activities for Their Future. That was taken from the twitter account of Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim published on the social site on Jan 24. The Star ran a story here . We do have royalties helming FAs. Pahang ruler Sultan Ahmad Shah is president of the FA of Malaysia (FAM). His son Tengku Abdullah is the deputy president. The Johor royalty are rather, let's say "hands on", and I do expect some "inte...