Outspoken royal, Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Tunku Ibrahim, is calling for the firing of national football coach Dollah Salleh following the Malaysian Tigers’ dismal showing at the World Cup qualifiers last night, where they lost 10-0 to the United Arab Emirates.
Tunku Ismail is so determined to see Dollah out that the prince is putting money on the table to fund the hiring of a new foreign coach.
In a post to the official Johor Southern Tigers Facebook page, Tunku Ismail addressed the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) in urging for Dollah – a national football legend in his own right – be sakced as soon as possible “to improve whatever we can and to save what ever dignity we have left and before our football standard (sic) continue to deteriorate”.
Tunku Ismail also called for other reforms within the national football community, urging all football teams in the country a fair share of match broadcasting rights, while asserting FAM only needs 20-25% of the money from those rights to keep itself in black ink.
The Crown Prince also endorsed a decentralisation of youth training programmes and facility upgrades.
Speaking to the New Straits Times after last night’s match, Dollah Salleh seemed to be considering stepping down from his commission.
“I don’t know, maybe. We will see everything in two or three days,” he said in reply to a press question on whether he would tender his resignation.
“Overall I don’t know what to say, it can be considered a disaster for our Malaysian team.
“I did not expect we would concede 10 goals. We only had three or four days to prepare and many players were tired from playing in the Super League.”
