SOCCER - FAM cave in to mounting pressure, set to defy AFC

From : Star Sport

By ERIC SAMUEL and S. SIVABALAN

KUALA LUMPUR: Newly crowned Premier League champions Manchester United’s trip to Malaysia on July 27 is on again.

The FA of Malaysia are now taking the stand that they have no authority to stop the English champions from playing here as it is organised by a private promoter working with the Ministry of Tourism.

However, the FAM’s defiance of an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ruling could put the national governing body in the line of fire.

Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, the deputy president of the FAM, told a press conference yesterday that the FAM had caved in to mounting pressure from AFC during the AFC Congress last Tuesday.

The AFC had feared that the Manchester United match would be a distraction to the Asian Cup Finals from July 7-29. Then, the FAM had announced that the match had to be rescheduled or cancelled.

Main men: FAM deputy president Tengku Abdullah (left) and FAM secretary general Datuk Seri Dr Ibrahim Saad in jovial mood during the press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. – S.S. KANESAN/ The Star

However, with pressure from the Malaysian public and the government, FAM have decided that United’s trip can go on as scheduled.

FAM, however, will not be involved in any promotion or marketing of the United match.

The FAM also felt that since the match will be played on July 27, two days after the completion of the Asian Cup matches in KL, FAM could provide technical assistance usually accorded to international matches.

“When I said that day (during the AFC Congress) that the match was off, I was just echoing what the FIFA president (Sepp Blatter) and AFC president Mohamed Hammam had said,” Tengku Abdullah said. “I was making the statement as vice-president of AFC.”

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had said last Friday that he wanted the United match here to kick off as scheduled.

“We are hoping that the AFC will consider our Prime Minister’s call. This match is very significant, very important to us because we are celebrating the 50th anniversary of our Independence,” Tengku Abdullah said.

When asked about repercussions from the AFC if they were to go ahead with the match in what could be seen as a show of defiance, he said the question should be posed to the AFC.

However, he admitted that the FAM are very much in a tight spot right now.

“We will try to find a win-win situation. We have to look at the positive side. We are giving a lot of priority to the Asian Cup and having a lot of football activity is good for Malaysia,” he said.

“We are having the Asian Cup, Manchester United coming here and tentatively the Champions Youth Cup (CYC). It’s a good time to celebrate the Independence and football. As for the effects or repercussions from AFC (towards FAM), I am not ready to give an answer to that.”