Tunku Ismail: If I’m lying, then drag me to court

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Football League (MFL) chairman Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim (pic) said Wednesday that Telekom Malaysia can “drag him to court if he is lying”.

This was his response on Twitter to TM’s statement on the termination of an RM480 million sponsorship of the M-League with MFL, reported the New Straits Times.

Last Friday, the MFL announced that they had cancelled the eight-year sponsorship deal with TM.

TM stated on Monday that it is no longer a sponsor for the M-League from this year.

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The TM statement reads: “We wish to inform that Telekom Malaysia Berhad ™ is no longer a sponsor for the Malaysian League from 2019 onwards.

“TM denies that it has not met any obligations. We would like to clarify that TM and Malaysian Football League (MFL) were unable to mutually agree on several fundamental commercial terms necessary for the intended collaboration.

“Despite several extensions of the agreed deadline to sign the definitive agreement, both parties were unable to arrive at an understanding. In view of this, on 1 November 2018, TM duly notified MFL in writing that the partnership has come to an end.”

However, Tunku Ismail said on Twitter: “If I’m lying, then drag me to court.”

Tunku Ismail added that he is very disappointed when sports is mixed or rather tainted by politics which in the end will only ruin the national football agenda.

“If it is felt that I am lying, then it is easy to bring the chairman of MFL to justice. This is exactly what happens when politics is mixed with sports. Last time there were no such problems when the agreement was first struck for an eight-year sponsorship deal. But when there’s a new boss that comes in (at TM), football becomes the victim,” said Tunku Ismail.

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Earlier MFL said they made the decision (to cancel the TM deal) following the failure of the telecommunications giant to release the sponsorship payment for this season worth RM60 million, which was supposed to be distributed to the teams competing in the M-League.

However, TM has denied MFL’s claims by stating that the partnership between both sides had actually ended on November 1 last year.

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