ALOR STAR: The generally calm debate session at the state legislative assembly sitting took a different turn when assemblymen from Barisan Nasional and the Opposition clashed over alleged discrepancies in sale of Malaysia Cup final tickets early last month.
The heated session started when the state Youth and Sports Committee chairman (BN-Jitra) Datuk Aminuddin Omar responded on the issue in his winding up speech.
Aminuddin, who is also the Kedah Football Association (KFA) honorary secretary, was answering a question posed by Mohd Nasir Mustafa (Pas-Kubang Rotan), who requested for an explanation over claims that bulks of the final tickets were distributed to selected politicians.
Nasir wanted to know how many of the tickets were sold over the counter at the Darulaman Stadium as thousands of Kedah football fans were left frustrated when the tickets were snapped up in a short period.
(PPBM-Ayer Hitam) Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir also stood up to raise the matter as many hardcore fans of 'Lang Merah' left disappointed after failing to obtain tickets.
Nasir caused a stir when he asked whether bulk of the tickets were distributed to Umno assemblymen and politicians who had sponsored busload of supporters to the Shah Alam Stadium on Oct 4 for the final between Kedah and Johor Datul Ta’zim (JDT).
This has sparked a furious response from BN backbenchers, Mahadzhir Abdul Hamid (BN-Jeneri), Datuk Ali Yahya (BN-Pantai Merdeka) and Datuk Ahmad Lebai Sudin (BN-Bukit Lada), all who stood up, demanding for Nasir to retract his question.
Speaker Datuk Md Rozai Shafian had to step in, and requested for all assemblymen to sit down.
Ahmad then said the accusation was baseless since some of the affiliate associations that received the tickets were chaired by political leaders from various parties including from Pas and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM).
Ali told the House that even he himself had to buy the tickets personally at Shah Alam Stadium for the supporters from Pantai Merdeka.
“I even had to buy tickets from the black market for 15 of the fans at Shah Alam Stadium at an inflated price of between RM80 and RM100 each.
“The opposition should not use this ticket issue for their political mileage. This is not a weakness in the KFA management but the weakness of FAM,” he said.
Aminuddin also denied that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had even placed their officers at the Darulaman Stadium counters to ensure that the ticket sales process was conducted properly.
He added that the matter was beyond KFA's control as there were hundreds and thousands fans wished to buy the ticket but the stadium can only accommodate up to 80,000 fans from both teams.
He went on to explain that the KFA had received a quota of 30,000 tickets whereby 8,000 tickets were sold over the counters and all the tickets were snapped up by fans.
“The rest of the tickets were distributed to KFA affiliate associations and the bookings made for 400 buses that ferried our fans to the Shah Alam Stadium,” he said.
To address the matter, Aminuddin said KFA will propose to FAM to stop selling the tickets over the counter and only sell them online to avoid the issue from recurring.
“We take heed all the feedback from the fans and will improve our services from time to time,” he said.