NEW FA of Malaysia (FAM)
president, Tunku Ismail Ibrahim, the Tengku Mahkota of Johor (TMJ), wasted no
time making decisions that might have ruffled feathers, especially of those
vanquished in the elections.
Tunku Ismail’s decisions — the
replacement of national team coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee by former Johor Darul
Ta’zim (JDT) coach Mario Gomez; Kim Swee’s demotion to the Under-22 squad; and
the removal of Frank Bernhardt — made before any council or team management
meeting, caused a shock to some quarters.
But a majority, especially
those who were elected to a new term of office, had no qualms because it was
what they had bargained for.
When he was approached to head
FAM by several affiliates, Tunku Ismail had said he would manage the body as he
deemed fit.
In fairness to Tunku Ismail, he
had met the new council briefly after the elections before he announced a slew
of decisions to the media.
Eighty per cent of the
delegates at last Saturday’s election comprised of young and new faces who had
given the mandate for sweeping change, underscored the reality that change was
what they wanted.
As one senior official
observed: “For far too long FAM have been managed by consensus and sometimes
good proposals have been thrown out by previous presidents because state FAs
opposed for reasons best known to them.
“This has affected the
development of football and brought us to our current situation.
“It’s about time we tried
something new and with Tunku Ismail being young and having proven himself with
his stewardship of JDT, we need to give him full support.
“It may look dictatorial, but
what has common consensus with agendas attached, brought us to? Let us allow
Tunku Ismail to work his way. What have we to lose?”
It’s important Tunku Ismail
gets full backing and not back-biting from the state FAs.
Anyway, Tunku Ismail is a man
who won’t tolerate nonsense. The non-compliant will probably have no place in
his leadership team.
But still the state FAs play a
big role in determining whether changes in football’s governance will succeed
or fail.
States FAs will be expecting
the new regime to put many things right for them, especially in terms of
funding from broadcasting rights.
If they get the allocations
they are seeking, they will have to spend wisely.
Tunku Ismail is passionate
about development and wants the National Football Development Programme (NFDP)
to come directly under the jurisdiction of FAM which includes funding
(presently under the Sports Ministry) and rightly so.
He believes grassroots
development, which is non-existent among a majority of state FAs and clubs,
must be priority.
Indeed, exciting times are on
course for Malaysian football, but state FAs must not buck the national
interest.
Tunku Ismail has to change the
mentality that allows state interest to take precedence over national interest.
Tunku Ismail must be careful
not to be over reliant on foreign expertise. Even if he does, he must make sure
the foreigners are the best and have locals as understudies.
The Exco must be prepared for
an earful when they meet for the first time under TMJ in Kota Kinabalu next
week.
Tunku Ismail is expected to
outline his style of management. More sweeping changes are expected.
However, judging from the
positive feedback, there seems to be hope for change. However, only time will
tell.
Quality long term programmes,
patience, hard work, dedication and concerted effort are the pre-conditions for
light at the end of a long dark tunnel.
TONY is a sports journalist
with close to four decades’ experience and is passionate about local sports.
He can be reached at
tmariadass@gmail.com
tmariadass@gmail.com
BLOG VERSION
TMJ’s highway or no way
NEWLY elected FA of Malaysia president, Tunku Ismail
Sultan Ibrahim, the Tengku Mahkota of Johor (TMJ, wasted no time in taking
immediate decisions which might have ruffled some feathers in the football
family, especially among the anguished in the elections.
TMJ’s decisions among them included the removal of
national coach Ong Kim Swee to be replaced by Mario Gomez, Ong given the task
to handle the national Under-23 team and the removal of Frank Bernhardt, before
any Council or team management meeting, saw some shocked faces.
But a majority, especially those who were elected in for
the new term of office, had no qualms because it was what they had bargained
for.
TMJ when he was approached to head the national body by
many affiliates, in his meetings with the representatives of the State FAs had
clearly outlined that if he was to head FAM, he has to be given the mandate to
manage the body he deems fit and all of them have to support him.
He has made it crystal clear that they will have to follow
his momentum and pace as he likes to do things fast and get it done. He had
also said that he has his style of working and the Exco will have to follow him
and his style.
In fairness to TMJ, he had meet the new Exco briefly after
the elections before he met the Media to take centre stage with his
announcements of immediate action. He has asked them to support whatever
decisions he has to announce.
FA of Malaysia’s ways of common consensus through Council
decisions and the various committees may have seen its last days.
The fact that 80 percent of the delegates from the states
for last Saturday’s election comprised of young and new faces and had given the
mandate for a sweeping change in the new Exco line-up, underlines that they
wanted changes.
And they knew fully well what they were bargaining for
with TMJ helming the national body.
One senior football official said: “For far too long FAM
have been managed by common consensus and sometimes good proposals have been
thrown out under their previous presidents because State FAs opposed for
reasons best known to them.
“This has affected the development of football and brought
us to our current status.
“It is about time we tried something new and with TMJ
being young and proven himself with his club JDT, it is about time we tried
something his way and need to give him full support.
“It may look dictatorial, but what has common consensus with
agendas attached, brought us to? Let us allow TMJ to work his way. What have we
to lose?”
However, it is important that TMJ gets full backing and
not back-biting from the State FAs.
Anyway, TMJ is a man who tolerates no nonsense and
non-compliants will probably have no place in his team.
But still the State FAs play a big role in success or
failure.
It is important that all in State FAs Council are in the
same page of TMJ’s vision and style.
States FAs will be expecting to the new regime to put many
things right for them, especially in terms of funding coming from broadcasting
rights.
But the State FAs if they get their windfalls need to
spend wisely and channel it to the right areas to ensure a bright future for
Malaysian football.
TMJ is passionate about football development and wants the
National Football Development Programme (NFDP) to come directly under the
jurisdiction of FAM which includes all funding (presently under the Ministry of
Sports) and rightly so.
He believes that grassroots development which is
non-existence among a majority of State FAs and clubs, should buck up and take
the matter seriously and make it their priority agenda.
However, a word of caution though – in the past FAM had
tried to ensure all State FAs give importance to development and specified substantial
funding from the grant through previous sponsors (Dunhill), was to go towards
development, but it never happened.
The allocation went to other areas, especially the
management of the M-League teams and acquisition of foreign players and
coaches. When questioned by FAM, they turn around and say it is up to them to
spend the money how they deem fit!
Maybe this time around, State FAs should only be given
their development allocation after putting the programme in place and payment
to come direct from FAM. This way, it will ensure that the development
programmes are in place, up and running and monitored.
Indeed, exciting times are expected for Malaysian football
under the new regime, but the State FAs are a notorious lot with their own
agenda and national interest is their lowest priority.
TMJ has to change this mentality and maybe his way of
doing things is the only way to shake up Malaysian football.
But TMJ must be careful not to rely totally on foreigners
and even if he does, he gets to get the best and at the same time given
emphasis to have locals as understudies.
The Exco must be prepared for an earful when they meet for
the first time under TMJ in Kota Kinabalu next Saturday.
This already is a change from the norm of FAM’s
administration, as TMJ wants to have meetings in the States rather than at the
headquarters all the time.
TMJ is expected to outline his style of management and
more sweeping changes are expected.
Some may be difficult to absorb or swallow, but it is
going to be TMJ’s way and the sooner they get used to it, the better it will be
for a smooth transition.
If resistance persists from some quarters, TMJ might even
take the road to throw in the towel, for if changes for the betterment of
Malaysian football cannot gain support, then he is merely wasting his time,
effort and energy.
However, judging from the positive feedback and support,
there seems to be hope for change.
But whether it for real or just being in number for the
sake of it, time will tell.
It must be underlined that the face of Malaysian football
cannot be changed overnight.
Damaged has been done over two decades and any
resurrection will take time.
The national team cannot become a champion team overnight
either because we still have the same crop of players. We may improve slightly
under a new management with new ideas, but we cannot turn old horses to
championship breed, while our young breed have still a long way to become
classy players.
Quality long term programmes, patience, hard work,
dedication and a concerted effort by all will be hallmark to seeing the light
at the end of a long tunnel.
