Firdaus Hashim
KUALA LUMPUR: Former Kapar member of Parliament Datuk Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid is set to take on businessman, Syed Yazid Syed Omar for the Kuala Lumpur Football Association (KLFA) presidency.
Nominations for posts in KLFA closed yesterday, and each post will be contested in the Oct 12 polls.
Previously, Communication Minister Fahmi Fadzil and Natural Resources and Environment Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad planned to contest the KLFA presidency.
Both ministers, who are KL MPs, later withdrew from the contest after the Cabinet barred ministers from contesting posts in sports associations.
According to a source, Syed Yazid, a former KLFA vice president's nomination received the support of 15 of the club's 27 members.
Abdullah Sani, the former acting president, received the backing of 12 members, surpassing the 40 per cent nomination requirement to contest the presidency.
The KLFA secretariat is expected to release the full list of candidates for all the posts today.
It is understood that the contest for the deputy president's post will see a four-way fight between two candidates linked to Syed Yazid and another two aligned to Abdullah Sani.
Those contesting the deputy president's post are corporate figure Datuk Seri Wong Yeon Chai, local football personality Datuk Kamarudin Hassan, film director and producer Datuk Afdlin Shauki and Datuk Azril Mat Drus, who is also involved in the local football scene.
Contenders for the vice-president's post include Datuk Ramlan Askolani, Datuk Sham Shamrat, Mohd Iqmal Haqimie and Nor Asyikin Jaafar who are said to be in Syed Yazid's camp.
It will also involve those linked to Abdullah Sani, including Senator Datuk Hishamuddin Yahya, Ibrahim Sani Asnan Mohamad, Mohd Hamidi Abu Bakar and Azli Yusof.