Tunku Mahkota Tunku Mahkota of Johor (TMJ), Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim has lashed out at the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) saying that the body is the reason for the state the country's football is in now.

“First of all, let me say that FAM have tarnished the image in the country for the last 31 years, since the reign of the former president,” he said in an interview published on Johor Southern Tigers Facebook page today.

“FAM is the reason the country's football is in shambles,” he added.

He said although he strongly disagreed with the behaviour of the fans on Tuesday night, he understood their frustrations as the governing bodies never made the efforts to change and improve Malaysian football.

“This is because FAM's biggest problem is that it is run by people who have no clue about football and they are there for their own personal interests,” he said.

He said if he does become the next FAM president, his first action would be to clean up every single mess in the body.

“After 31 years, I may need to take one year to do the cleaning up,” he said.

On Tuesday, Harimau Malaya fans who called themselves Ultras Malaya created a ruckus at Shah Alam Stadium during the 2018 World Cup/2019 Asian Cup Qualifying match when they hurled smoke bombs, flares and rocket parachute flares onto the pitch.

The match referee Liu Kwok Man from Hong Kong decided to stop the match due to security reasons and safety of the players.

Following the incident, Sports Commissioner had sent a letter to the FAM urging it to submit a report on the unruly behaviour of fans during the match between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said FAM may face sanctions if a report submitted to the sports commissioner about the incident within 14 days, is not satisfactory.