Selangor Sultan to grant audience to FAM chief

Close attention: Sultan Sharafuddin looking at the Pua Kumbu weaving process during his visit to Yayasan Tun Jugah’s Textile, Museum and Gallery in Kuching, Sarawak. — Bernama

PETALING JAYA: The Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah has consented to an audience with Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin.

According to Hamidin, the Ruler’s private secretary Datuk Mohamad Munir Bani informed him of this on Friday afternoon.

“I received a phone call from Datuk Munir at about 2.30pm, the day after I sent the letter requesting permission to meet with the Sultan.

“His Royal Highness had ordered him (Datuk Munir) to accept the application I sent to Istana Bukit Kayangan, Shah Alam on Thursday,” he said.

Hamidin said he was also informed that Sultan Sharafuddin would be leaving for Sarawak and has other official business until the Maal Hijrah celebration on July 7.

“If there are no obstacles, likely the date to have an audience with the Selangor Ruler will be after July 7,” he added.

Hamidin’s request for an audience came after Sultan Sharafuddin’s strongly-worded statement criticising the Malaysian Football League (MFL) for punishing Selangor for pulling out of the Charity Shield fixture against Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) initially scheduled for May 10.

Selangor had requested a postponement of the match after its player Faisal Halim suffered grievous injuries from an acid attack on May 5.

When MFL refused to grant the postponement, Selangor withdrew for security reasons.

Apart from MFL, the Selangor Ruler also took FAM members and in particular Hamidin, who is FAM president, to task.

Sultan Sharafuddin also voiced his disappointment in Hamidin for not speaking out even though he was Selangor Football Association (FAS) secretary-general from 1995 to 2013.

On Tuesday, MFL decided to hit Selangor with a hefty RM100,000 fine and a three-point deduction, and ordered the team to play its next match against JDT in an empty stadium.

This angered Sultan Sharafuddin, who said he would pull Selangor out of the Super League if he was leading the football association instead of being its patron.

On Thursday the MFL lowered the fine to RM60,000, not to dock the team the three points and allowed spectators to watch the Selangor-JDT game.

This, in turn, irked JDT owner, Regent of Johor Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim.

“After today, any club that does not pay salaries on time, or pulls out at its whim and fancy, or breaks any regulation, just needs to ask their state’s Sultan to write a letter expressing anger,” he said.

“Since 2013, JDT has been fined hundreds of thousands and I was once banned for six months, but Tuanku Sultan Johor never issued a letter or made a statement,” he said in a post on Facebook.