KUALA TERENGGANU, Aug 7 — The state government will reward Terengganu FC (TFC) in the form of a financial bonus for advancing to the FA Cup final for the first time since 2011.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, who declined to reveal the size of the reward, said it was an appreciation from the state government for the players who fought tooth-and-nail until the dying minutes of the match to end an 11-year drought to appear in the FA Cup final.

"Actually, in motivating the players before the (semi-final) match, I said they will receive a reward if they make it to the final. As it turned out, they managed to book a ticket to the FA Cup final and this is history for us in Terengganu,” he said after officiating the launch of the National Month and the state-level 2022 Fly the Jalur Gemilang campaign at Wisma Darul Iman here today.

In the meantime, Ahmad Samsuri said there would be another reward awaiting the Turtles squad if they manage to beat Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) and bring home the FA Cup.

TFC, under the management of Nafuzi Zain, advanced to the final of the FA Cup after defeating Selangor FC 4-2 in the penalty shootout after the score had remained at 1-1 when extra time ended in the semi-final match at Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium last night.

The last time the team qualified for the FA Cup final was in 2011 under the guidance of experienced head coach Irfan Bakti Abu Salim.

In another development, Ahmad Samsuri said the state government’s approach was to prioritise projects that have a greater social and economic impact on the people, following the cost-saving measures announced by the Federal government.

"I don’t want to use the term ‘postpone’ but we ‘prioritise’ anything that has a greater social and economic impact. The rest will come later,” he said.

He said this when asked if there were any projects to be postponed, following the announcement by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, who reportedly said that all development projects that have yet to start, would be postponed or cancelled as a response to austerity measures directed through the Malaysian Treasury Circular - Guidelines on Public Expenditure Savings. — Bernama