KUALA LUMPUR: Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) owner Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sultan Ibrahim has defended the state of Malaysian football, using his club's dominance and Malaysia's Asian Cup qualification to challenge claims of failure in the sport.
In a social media post on Sunday, the Regent of Johor addressed critics who label Malaysian football a failure.
"It's hard to understand how some consider Malaysian football a failure when JDT are the No. 1 team in Southeast Asia and No. 6 in Asia, based on the Opta power rankings. Harimau Malaya also qualified for the Asian Cup for the first time in over 40 years," said Tunku Ismail.
He pointed to JDT's pivotal role in reshaping regional football.
Since 2015, the Southern Tigers have contributed 21.54 points — 68.7 per cent of the 31.33 total points earned by Malaysian teams in the AFC rankings.
Their achievements have opened doors for other Malaysian clubs to compete on the Asian stage.
JDT also remain the only Southeast Asian team to win the AFC Cup — a feat they achieved in 2015.
Tunku Ismail highlighted JDT's world-class facilities, which include state-of-the-art medical and training infrastructure, as a benchmark for modern football.
However, he criticised the broader Malaysian football landscape, blaming "unqualified individuals" for poor management at the club level.
He cited a lack of proper infrastructure, ineffective youth development programmes and mismanagement as the primary reasons for the sport's struggles in the country.
"Football has not failed. It is these individuals at various teams who have failed to manage and uplift standards," he said.
Tunku Ismail argued that instead of criticising JDT, who continue to shine in Asia, the focus should shift to improving management, investing in youth development and upgrading facilities across the league.
"A league with better-managed teams, modern facilities, and strong club-level youth programmes will raise overall standards," he added.