PETALING JAYA: The Regent of Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, has slammed the Malaysian Football League (MFL) for reducing the penalties imposed on Selangor FC for pulling out of the Charity Shield match last month.
In a sarcastic swipe at the MFL, Tunku Ismail said any club that breaks any regulation in the future can ask their state’s respective ruler to write a letter expressing anger over any penalties imposed by the league.
“Teams from every state that have done something wrong can all now ask MFL to withdraw their decision by seeking the goodwill of their respective sultans to issue a letter.
“After this other sultans will also ask why Selangor can get their punishment reduced but their states can’t,” he said in a Facebook post.
Tunku Ismail, who owns the Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) football club, pointed out that JDT had been fined hundreds of thousands of ringgit in the past, and that he had even been given a six-month ban from all football activities in 2013.
The ban, which came with a RM18,000 fine, was for criticising the league’s referees.
However, he said, the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim, did not intervene by issuing a statement or writing a letter to the league.
“MFL made a U-turn (in Selangor FC’s case) without receiving an appeal letter. Those who have been attacking MFL online endlessly should now start praising MFL,” he said.
Yesterday, Selangor’s Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah said he was “extremely angered” by the MFL’s decision to impose a RM100,000 fine and dock three points from Selangor FC after they withdrew from last month’s Charity Shield match against JDT.
Sultan Sharafuddin said the penalties imposed on Selangor FC were “excessive and unreasonable”, given that the victory had already been awarded to the opposing team.
The decision to withdraw from the season-opener was made in view of several incidents involving Malaysian footballers, including the acid attack on Selangor FC forward Faisal Halim on May 5.
The MFL today decided to reduce the RM100,000 fine to RM60,000, not deduct any points from Selangor FC, and to lift the ban on spectators for the Super League match between Selangor FC and JDT at MBPJ Stadium on gameweek 14.
Selangor FC said, however, that they intend to appeal.
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