JOHOR BARU: Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim described Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) football club's winning the Super League title for the third year in a row as his sweetest achievement with the club.
The crown prince, who is the club's owner, said the historic feat had been part of his plan for JDT since he took over its reins three years ago.
"It is an achievement most dear to me. The club and I planned it since 2013. I wanted JDT to become the first local club to win the Super League three years in a row,"
On Sept 9, Darul Ta'zim created history by becoming the first club to win the Super League title three years in a row after beating Terengganu 3-0 in Johor Baru.
Tunku Ismail said that although he was most proud of JDT being crowned the Asian Football Confederation Cup champion last year, that win was unplanned and was seen as a bonus.
"This year we made it again to the semi final of the AFC. But the Super League was always our target from day one because we wanted to dominate this particular Malaysian league," he said.
Tunku Ismail also reiterated his stand that he would not likely want to helm the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), despite a Berita Harian Online poll today in which respondents voted for the crown prince as their choice to lead FAM.
"I may contribute my services or ideas (to FAM), but I have my responsbilities towards JDT for now," he said in response to a 24-hour survey on www.bharian.com.my in which 53 per cent or 978 of the 1,846 voters picked Tunku Ismail as their choice to helm the national footballing body.
The other two names in the poll were AirAsia Bhd group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) chief executive officer Datuk Seri Idris Jala.