Malaysia Does Not Benefit From AFC House In Bukit Jalil
Written by Writer on Friday, October 24th, 2008
Malaysia Does Not Benefit From AFC House In Bukit Jalil
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 24 (Bernama) — What good does it make to cry over the loss of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) headquarters, if after 43 years of its establishment in Bukit Jalil, has failed to benefit the country?
Only sentimental values seem to bind AFC and Malaysia if the 46-member confederation is firm in going ahead with its plan to move out to a new home.
The AFC was formed on May 8, 1954 in Manila, Philippines and its secretariat had hopped from Hong Kong to Penang in 1965, followed by Ipoh, Perak (1975) and Kuala Lumpur (1978) before finally settling in its own building in Bukit Jalil, dubbed the ‘AFC House’, in 2000.
The relocation of the AFC secretariat from Hong Kong to Malaysia was initiated by the founder and first prime minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman while Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Sultan Ahmad Shah was the man who had enabled the confederation to have the AFC House in Bukit Jalil.
However, for the past few years, it was rumoured that AFC president Mohammed Hammam of Qatar, was planning to shift the confederation base to another Asean or Gulf country.
AFC, during its Executive Board meeting in June, finally opened the bidding to all its 46-member nations.
And last week, AFC submitted to Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, a list of demands to be met if its headquarters was to remain in Malaysia.
Among others, the demands signed by Mohammed Hammam himself, asked for personal tax exemption, a new office, interest-free loans and diplomatic status for the AFC office-bearers.
The relationship between AFC and Malaysia turned sour since July, last year, after the English Premier League Champion, Manchester United’s (MU) visit to the country was called off.
The Red Devil’s visit, which was approved by the Malaysian Government to promote the 50th anniversary of the country’s independence, was called off by AFC who wanted media attention to be solely focused on Asia Cup 2007.
AFC claimed that FAM was to have given full publicity to the Asia Cup as Kuala Lumpur was the host of the tournament, along with Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand.
A year later, AFC clashed with the country’s football governing body again when the latter did not recognise the Champions Youth Cup (CYC) championship which was scheduled in August.
The issue came to the fore after CYC promoter Gifted Group Limited (GGL), accepted an offer from AFC to host the championship, hence sidelining FAM.
Mohammed Hammam’s announcement to shift the AFC House from Malaysia came as a surprise to many, including the confederation’s former general-secretary Datuk Peter Velappan, who described the current president as someone who did not understand Asia’s football history.
“It is a total disrespect to all Malaysian leaders and staff who have worked very hard to develop and promote football in Asia. The president obviously does not understand the history and culture of Asian football.
“The AFC is what it is today due to the leadership, hard work and contributions of Malaysian leaders and the support from the government.
“Malaysia’s first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman had served as its president for 24 years, followed by Tan Sri Hamzah Abu Samah for 16 years and Sultan Ahmad Shah for eight years before Mohammed Hammam took over.
“I have served as AFC general secretary for 30 years and built AFC from a fledging confederation to what it is today. My predecessors had also worked very hard to establish a firm foundation for the formation of AFC,” Vellapan said in an interview with Bernama recently.
So, if Mohammed Hammam could not care less of the sentimental values, should he, at least, consider the benefits if AFC House stays in Bukit Jalil, one wonders.
“None. There will be no benefit whatsoever for Malaysia and FAM,” the country’s governing body secretary-general, Lt Gen (R) Datuk Azzuddin Ahmad said.
Asked whether the country, in particular FAM, had in any way benefitted from AFC House, Azzuddin firmly replied in the negative.
He said if any quarters thought that FAM had an advantage, such as playing host to AFC tournaments just because the AFC headquarters was located here, they were wrong.
That is why, FAM would not stop them if they wanted to move out, he added.
Right now, most Malaysians considered AFC as an ingrate and there was no need for anyone to shed tears, said Azzuddin.
– BERNAMA
