JOHOR BARU: Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim officially resigned as Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president today.
Announcing his decision at the end of a press conference after the annual Football Malaysia LLP (FMLLP) congress in Johor Baru, Tunku Ismail said: "Here is my letter of resignation as FAM president. Thank you Malaysian football and goodbye."
It was exactly one year ago that Tunku Ismail was elected unopposed as FAM president, when he vowed to change the landscape of Malaysian football.
"When I was appointed as president, I informed Datuk Hamidin Amin (FAM general secretary) that I will stay for one year only after restructuring FAM and bringing in sponsors.
"In the one year I have been at FAM, I brought in a new structure by holding rotating exco meetings in each member state.
"I also brought in sponsors and for the first time in history, each team in the Super League received a RM3 million grant and RM1 million for Premier League teams," said Tunku Ismail.
Tunku Ismail announced on social media on March 15 that he wants to relinquish his post after the national team plunged to a worst-ever 178th in the Fifa rankings.
However, many quarters urged Tunku Ismail to reconsider and voiced support for his leadership.
Meanwhile, Johor Darul Ta'zim owner Tunku Ismail remains the chairman of FMLLP after being elected to the position again.
Tunku Ismail said FMLLP would be rebranded as a new entity called the Malaysian Football League (MFL) and not bound to FAM.
"I prefer to serve with intelligent people, who can think in terms of performance and recognise my hard work. Today, as chairman of FMLLP, I will undertake the rebranding exercise.
"It will be known as MFL and will be more dynamic and competitive. MFL is now an independent organisation and no longer tied to FAM.
"My appointment as chairman of MFL is to take care of the interests of the Malaysian league as well as the interest of the sponsors who have put their trust in me, so I am here to protect the interests of all teams," said Tunku Ismail.