Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah women’s football team set to take part in the AFC Women’s Club Championship in Wuhan, China starting on October 3 are urged to play their part in promoting Sabah.
Sabah Tourism Board chairman Datuk Joniston Bangkuai, who presented the jersey sponsored by the board to team officials and players at an official ceremony on Friday, called on the players to help promote the State’s profile on the international stage as a sports tourism destination.
“First of all, I am delighted to be here for the jersey presentation sponsored by the Sabah Tourism Board to the Sabah women’s football team.
“Congratulations to you all for qualifying for the prestigious AFC Women’s Champions League in Wuhan, China.
“I would also like to extend special thanks to coach Justin Ganai and the management team for their dedication in guiding these talented players.
“Your achievement not only brings pride to Sabah but also helps enhance our reputation as a sports tourism destination that nurtures exceptional talent.
“We at the Sabah Tourism Board are proud to support Sabah Women FC in raising our State’s profile on the international stage through sports,” he said.
He also said that they want to take advantage of the massive followers of Malaysia internationals Intan Serah and Steffi Kaur on social media.
“I was delighted to know that two of the players in this team, Intan Serah has more than half a million followers on Instagram and Steffi Kaur has almost 100,000.
“We want to leverage this because it can do wonders in helping us to promote Sabah through social media.
“This is very important as the scope is wide and all over the world will know, so make full use of your social account to popularise Sabah.”
Meanwhile, head coach Justin said they have little time to prepare the team with the ongoing National Football League but will give their very best in the competition.
“We just completed four matches in the Peninsula and we had been there for 12 days. We only have five days of preparation before departing to China on October 30.
“Intan and Steffi will only join the team on Saturday because they are also involved in the league with their team Kelana United,” he said.
He added that the imports in the team will play a crucial part in their campaign.
“Our imports have improved the team. Without them we will be struggling because we already found out here in the preliminary round and I am sure the teams in China will be even more stronger.”
The management has just signed two more imports from Japan Aoi Kizaki and Saki Ueno for the competition.
Sabah FA are drawn in Group A with Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC from China, Hyundai Steel Red Angels Women’s FC of South Korea and UAE’s Abu Dhabi Country Club.
