Tunku Mahkota Johor, Tunku Ismail Idris Sultan Ibrahim, has never been shy about expressing his views and opinions on what is currently happening in the Malaysian football scene. Anybody here remember his intense feud with Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi back in November?
The Johor Prince made the headlines once again after he claimed that former National Football Development Programme (NFDP) director, Lim Teong Kim, had requested for a high salary. He came up with the shocking claim during an interview with Astro Arena recently.
€70,000 – €80,000 ialah bersamaan RM329,000 – RM376,000 sebulan bersamaan dengan RM3,900,000 – RM4,500,000 setahun tidak termasuk cukai!
Terang dan Jelas!
— Youth Football Malaysia (@youthfootballmy) January 27, 2022
According to Tunku Ismail, Lim apparently had once asked for a salary of €70,000 to €80,000 (~ RM330k to RM380K) a month, and wanted to bring along two to three assistants when he applied to work under him. “I’m not going to pay him that amount of money. Even the salaries for my players and also the head coach are not that high. But if he really wants to make an improvement, is passionate about Malaysian football, ask him to do it with a salary of RM20,000 to RM30,000 a month,” TMJ was quoted as saying.
That being said, TMJ’s disclosure was quickly denied by Mr. Lim himself. “Sorry, Tunku. What you said is not true. You’re questioning my credibility and ability as a coach,” he replied to a post shared by Astro Arena reporter Zulhelmi Zainal Azam, before adding, “I challenge you to give me a team to coach.”
Instead of remaining silent, the 37-year-old royal figure appeared to refute Lim’s statement on social media. He wrote, “Tiong Kim, I don’t do b*******. Don’t spread lies. Our financial team knows how much you ask. When I asked why you were demanding for a high salary, you responded by saying that if I could afford a Lamborghini, then why wouldn’t I be able to pay you that much. That’s what you said. So please, don’t twist your words.”
For the uninitiated, the retired football athlete has been gaining the attention of local football fans. He previously shared his two cents on the current situation of the football industry after the national team failed to advance to the next round of AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 games, which ended earlier this year.
The former head coach of Bayern Munich’s U-19 squad also put the blame on the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) as well as the Malaysian Football League (MFL) for the failure of the national team. If you recall, Malaysia lost to Indonesia in a 4-1 score during the group qualifying match.
Source: VOCKET FC.
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