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Friday May 11, 2007

Azalina sends appeal to AFC

KUALA LUMPUR: Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said has appealed to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to reconsider their decision on not to sanction the friendly match between Manchester United and a Malaysian Selection here on July 27.

In a press statement issued yesterday, Azalina said that she respected the decision but felt that the AFC could have showed a little more compassion, especially from their president, Mohamed Hammam, on the issue because the match was part of the 50 years of celebration of independence and Visit Malaysia Year.

“Malaysia has always had a close rapport with the AFC and FIFA. And we have always supported and respected them,” said Azalina.

She said that the fact that the AFC headquarters was housed in Kuala Lumpur further underlined the nation’s support towards the AFC and their activities.

Azalina was grateful to FIFA president Sepp Blatter and Hammam for having given a positive undertaking in considering their appeal to sanction the Champions Youth Cup (CYC), which Malaysia planned to host in August.

“We hope the same compassionate hearing could be given for United’s visit,” she said.

“This is Malaysia’s 50 years of independence and also the Visit Malaysia Year and the United match and the CYC tournament are part of the celebrations.

“It would indeed be a dampener if these celebrations have to be cancelled, especially when a lot of money had been spent by the Ministry of Tourism in promoting these events.”

Azalina gave an assurance that the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and the Malaysian government would do everything possible to promote the Asian Cup Finals, which Malaysia co-hosts with Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand from July 7-29.

“Malaysians are No. 1 football fans and personally I do not believe that the one match here is going to jeopardise the fan turnout for the Asian Cup Finals,” she said.

The English Premier League champions have a four-stop Asian tour and the match in KL is the final one on the schedule. The first match is against J-League champions Urawa Red Diamonds in Saitama on July 17 followed by matches against FC Seoul in Seoul (July 20) and Shenzhen FC in Macau (July 23).

The match in KL is two days before the Asian Cup final in Jakarta. Malaysia complete their commitment as hosts with a semi-final match on May 25. But the AFC and the FAM signed an agreement last year banning the promotion of any other football events during the Asian Cup Finals.

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