KUANTAN: The controversy-hit Champions Youth Cup (CYC) tournament scheduled to be held in August in Malaysia is off.
The FA of Malaysia (FAM) have decided not to sanction the tournament and hence it cannot be held in this country.
FAM president Sultan Ahmad Shah, expressing disappointment over the issues surrounding the tournament, said it was better not to sanction it for the good of football.
The Sultan said that the RM8mil paid to Gifted Group as part of the payment of RM17mil to organise the tournament is gone.
“How nice if that amount was given to the FAM for football development in the country,” he told the media after handing over the Pahang flag to the state’s Sukma team chef-de-mission Datuk Zulkifly Osman for Pahang’s participation in the Sukma which will be held in Terengganu from May 31 to June 9.
“It is a big amount of money involved. We are talking about RM8mil not RM8,” said the Sultan.
“Furthermore the tournament is of no benefit to Malaysian football. FAM have nothing to lose. We can still take part in other international tournaments.”
He was also very upset by the way the FAM have been sidelined by the organisers over the tournament.
“FAM are the main body for football in this country and must be informed well in advance of any tournament to be held here.
“Only after we made an issue over why the FAM were not officially informed that they gave me a letter asking for sanction. However, it was a bit too late. Let them look for other venues.”
The Sultan said he did not know what conditions were in the agreement between the Sports Ministry and Gifted Group over organising the tournament.
“All I know is that the tournament cost RM17mil and it is a big amount.”
Last Saturday FAM deputy president Khairy Jamaluddin said it was “legacy problem” as the Sports Ministry had already tied up a three-year deal with Gifted Group to organise the CYC from 2007 to 2009.
The 16-team Under-19 tournament scheduled for Aug 5-16 involves the national teams of Malaysia, Qatar, India and China and 12 top club sides from Europe and South America. The tournament will also clash with the Olympics. Last year the tournament saw matches played to near-empty stadiums.
Last month, the FAM withdrew their support of the CYC after a fall out with the Gifted Group who had signed a contract with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to stage the event.
The FAM are unhappy that they were not given the task to run the tournament. As a result, no FAM officials turned up for the draw which was held last month.
