ALOR STAR: Datuk Ahmad Basri Mohd Akil, who led Kedah to eight Malaysia Cup finals between 1987 and 2004, died of a heart attack here yesterday.

The 69-year-old former Kedah football manager had a heart attack in the car park of Istana Anak Bukit here. He was on his way to attend the launch of a set of commemorative stamps to mark the 50-year reign of Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah of Kedah.

Abdul Hamid Tahar, 52, a driver for a VIP who attended the ceremony, saw Ahmad Basri leaning against a pillar at 2.30pm.

"When I approached him, he appeared to be short of breath," he said.

"I was driving him to Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital, when he stopped breathing."
Doctors pronounced Basri dead on arrival at the hospital. Basri, a former FAM vice-president, left two wives, seven children and 11 grandchildren.

He will be buried at the Muslim cemetery in Alor Merah, here today.

His first wife, Datin Wan Chik Wan Baing, 59, said she last spoke to her husband over the telephone six days ago.

"He sounded healthy and he did not complain of any illnesses."

Wan Chik has six children, aged between 29 and 40, with Basri. Basri's second wife, Tengku Zainab Tengku Zainon, 36, was too overcome by grief to speak to reporters.

Paying their last respects to Basri at the hospital were Sultan Abdul Halim and Sultanah Haminah Hamidun.

Also present were Raja Muda Tunku Abdul Malik Sultan Badlishah and Kedah football coach Mohd Azraai Khor Abdullah.

Mohd Azraai described Ahmad Basri's death as a big loss to Kedah and Malaysian football.



Kedah Football Fan Club deputy president Jasni Shafie described Ahmad Basri as the architect of the Kedah FA.

He said Basri led Kedah to eight Malaysia Cup finals between 1987 and 2004 as team manager. The team won the Malaysia Cup in 1990 and 1993.

A vocal critic of the way football was run in the country, Ahmad Basri was suspended from the FAM in 2006 for criticising the association.