KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 — Datuk Seri Shahril Mokhtar announced today that he has resigned from the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), believed to be over the punishment against Selangor FC for missing the Charity Shield.
According to Berita Harian, the Selangor FC director said his resignation was for all his roles with association, including as the manager of the national under-23 team.
“I have officially resigned from all positions in FAM with immediate effect. The resignation letter was handed to the president and secretary-general this afternoon,” he was quoted as saying.
While Shahril did not state his reasons, his resignation is believed to be over the controversy exploding within local football over the decision to punish Selangor FC for missing the Charity Shield after one of its players, Faisal Halim, was targeted in an acid attack.
Shahril was also a member of FAM’s executive council as well as the chairman of its sponsorship and marketing committee.
Yesterday, the Malaysian Football League (MFL) fined Selangor FC RM100,000 and docked it three points for missing the Charity Shield match with Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) on May 10.
Selangor FC previously asked for the game to be postponed due to its players’ security concerns following the attack on Faisal as well as other incidents against footballers nationwide.
The controversy has been such that Sultan Sharafudin Idris Shah of Selangor has commented publicly and directly on the matter, expressing anger and disappointment with Malaysian football officials over the decision to penalise Selangor FC.
The sultan went as far as suggesting that the Selangor Football Association withdraw the club from the league in protest.
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