LOW profile businessman Syed Yazid Syed Omar was elected president of the
Kuala Lumpur Football Association (KLFA) for the 2024-2028 term during their congress-cum-elections in Cheras yesterday and immediately vowed to settle the unpaid salaries of Super League outfit, KL City.As the governing body of all football matters relating to development of talent, referees, competitions and grassroots, KLFA are also the direct owners of KL City.
Syed Yazid who is a member of the FA of Malaysia (FAM) executive committee, secured 15 votes to succeed Khalid Samad as president, narrowly defeating challenger Datuk Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid, who garnered 12.
Many of the newly elected executive committee members are aligned with Syed Yazid.
They are deputy presidents Datuk Kamarudin Hassan, a veteran in the scene, and Datuk Seri Wong Yeong Chai, along with vice presidents Datuk Ramlan Askolani, Nor Asyikin Jaafar, Datuk Sham Shamrat Sen Gupta and Datuk Hisamudin Yahaya.
Hisamudin, a Senator who was aligned to Abdullah Sani’s camp, is also Syed Yazid’s fellow FAM Exco member.
Ramlan is a remnant of the past. He is a tangible reminder for Syed Yazid of the storied background of KLFA in the 1980s, when Kuala Lumpur was a force in Malaysian football.
And with his election, foremost on Syed Yazid’s mind is to settle the salary arrears before thinking of rediscovering the glorious past of city football.
As Malaysian football teams transitioned into privately-owned football clubs, KL City were established as a wholly-owned club of KLFA. One of their former players, Stanley Bernard Samuel, was appointed as the club’s chief executive officer.
They enjoyed instant results. Following promotion from the second tier in 2020, KL City produced one of the most famous results in their history as goals from Zhafri Yahya and Paulo Josue saw them beat JDT 2-0 in the 2021 Malaysia Cup final.
The City side have come a long way since they competed in their first official national competition in 1979 – the Malaysia Cup.
By the time FTFA rebranded themselves as Kuala Lumpur in 1987, they had already emerged as the kings of Malaysian football by capturing the Malaysia Cup for three consecutive years from 1987 to 1989.
Kuala Lumpur were to win every trophy at stake – triumphing in the Malaysia Cup thrice, the League Cup (1986 and 1988), the FA Cup (1993, 1994 and 1999), the Charity Shield 1988, 1995 and 2000) and the Fairplay Trophy (1991).
Of course the personality who took the City to their greatest height was Tan Sri Elyas Omar, the former Lord Mayor of Kuala Lumpur.
Elyas had the foresight to send Kuala Lumpur’s best youth footballers to Europe and entice the regional’s best talent to pitch their tent in Malaysia.
Under Elyas’ watch, KL became a reservoir of talent. Their top youth players such as Azmin Azram Aziz, T. Gopinath Naidu, Azrul Amri Burhan and Ahmad Sabri Wahab were dispatched to Europe for attachments in England and Germany. Fandi Ahmad, Malek Awab and K. Kannan became crowd-pullers and Cup winners.
Those who followed in the footsteps of Elyas were no slouch either.
The late Tan Sri Megat Junid Megat Ayob, Datuk Astaman Abdul Aziz, Datuk Adnan Md Ikhsan who enjoyed the patronage of Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor as Minister of Federal Territories and Khalid himself were highly influential figures known to the corridors of power.
Key to Syed Yazid’s vision is KLFA’s relationship with City Hall, the perennial cash cow. And whether Syed Yazid can convince Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil, to help ease the team’s financial burden.
If one may recall, under Astaman, KLFA nearly closed shop during the period when the team lost the bulk of their squad as they were relegated from the Super League to the Premier League.
As KLFA president, Syed Yazid is burdened not only by the elite team saddled with debts but also an association known for its internal strife.
The next four years will weigh heavily on Syed Yazid’s slender shoulders.
