FAS EGM tomorrow could decide future direction of Sarawak football

KUCHING: The future direction of football in the state is likely to hinge on the outcome of Football Association of Sarawak’s (FAS) extraordinary general meeting (EGM) tomorrow where a new president will be elected.

Where Sarawak football is headed will depend on how the affiliates exercise their voting powers. Will they vote according to camps and prolong regressive cliquey friction or choose to look at the bigger picture by putting Sarawak above self?

So far, no other candidates have surfaced apart from the present deputy president - and acting president - Datuk Richard Riot Jaem but this EGM might well see a surprise with the affiliates fielding their own candidate to ‘protect their interests’.

Notwithstanding that, the only candidate capable of getting government help to reverse the fortune of local football is Riot but he is quite reluctant and understandably so with FAS bogged down by long-standing and unsolved problems.

Riot, who has persuaded a prominent former politician to take over but without success, stressed the problem was that nobody, even the very well off, wanted to touch an association with a huge baggage of bad news.

But there is little doubt he is still the most suitable candidate – one who is likely to get the backing of the government and corporate bodies and has, in fact, been given the nod by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr George Chan if he wanted the job.

“If you make someone president according to the present camp-centred voting system, then Sarawak football will never be free of problems akin to the 2007 season. That is why Datuk Richard is still the best person to lead FAS. I hope he accepts the post,” said one official on condition of anonymity.

The official agreed the problems in FAS which led to the premature retirement of former president Khaider Zaidell, were too big for a ‘small person’ to handle, adding that only someone with clout could turn the association around.

This person should have the confidence of the government like in the 1990s when the Taha-Vest team, with the support of the state leadership, took Sarawak to the top of Malaysian football … otherwise the future of football here did not look too promising, the official suggested.

Vest, on a week-long visit here, personally feels a strong character like former FAS president and his mentor, the late Datuk Taha Ariffin, is needed at the helm.

“It is sad to see the sorry state of Sarawak football today. Get someone like Datuk Taha to lead,” suggested Vest who was saddened by the absence of a local league in Kuching.

He watched the Sarawak-Selangor match here on Wednesday and was bemused by what he saw on the side — 10 football officials running after their own things with nobody listening to anybody in managing the team.

“You got to give coaches their jurisdiction and there should be no interference. What amazes me is the interference. If you look at big clubs like Manchester United, is the chairman running the club or Alex Ferguson? “Even a rich club owner like Chelsea boss Roman Abramovich lets his coach run the show on the field.

“The owners of United or Liverpool are the same,” he said.

One observer noted that Sarawak football had a good start this season with Khaider as president.

Sponsors chipped in and a foreign coach in Kunju Jamaludeen was signed.

But no sooner had a turnaround appeared possible, it was effaced by old problems coming back to haunt the association.

Another observer said there would be no change in Sarawak football — now on the way down to the dumps — without a drastic change at the top.

“Already there has been interfering and meddling with the youth development under Kunju who is seen as a threat for one reason or other,” he pointed out.

Too much politicking at the management level is the curse of Sarawak football and it should be eradicated for the sake of the game.

If football in Sarawak is to progress like Selangor or Kedah, there is no place for self-serving dinosaurs in FAS.

More new ideas and positive actions are needed.

Why even today, there is not even a Kuching League or a Sarawak Cup competition.

Some FAS officials are reportedly not keen about restructuring the Sarawak team into a club-based entity … like Johor FC for instance.

They are said to have tried to derail the innovation even though the State Sports Ministry has taken to it positively by tabling it at the last Dewan Undangan Negeri sitting.

A club-based football team with the government representatives sitting on the board of management will certainly help revitalise Sarawak football.

With proper management, corporate bodies are likely to respond positively with sponsorship.

Some quarters are also reportedly concerned that the formation of a new Sarawak club side may deprive them of organising - and controlling - the state team for the M-League but it is widely accepted that a club set-up will be more efficient in its financial management, especially in terms of signing players and playing their salaries.

In fact, the situation has gotten so ludicrous that some officials are even said to be not keen in taking charge of development because it is not ‘glamorous’.

Sarawak started the season on a low note and officials had even thought of skipping the Super League due to lack of support from the fans and the corporate sector.

It was Khaider and FAS official Zuraimi Sabki who helped assemble a team under local coach Mohd Mentali.

When Kunju came into the picture midway through the Super League, he injected professionalism and discipline into the team but his no-nonsense approach seemed to have made some people unhappy, leading to his eventual ‘resting’ as coach for the Malaysia Cup campaign.

Such is the state of disharmony among the factions in FAS.

Also hanging in the balance is the five-year youth development programme like the Under-16 League, started by Riot to scout for talents.

There is a possibility the new set-up - after the EGM - might abandon this league because it is someone else’s idea but the worst to come out of this nightmare is the demise of Sarawak football.

Has anyone given serious thought to this? People in the association who are resistant to change, especially the infusion of new blood, should perhaps stand down.

They have been hanging on for too long and overstaying their welcome.

It’s time to go.