KUALA LUMPUR – The FA of Malaysia (FAM) is expected to announce Saifuddin Abu Bakar as its next general secretary after Stuart Ramalingam was appointed the CEO of the Malaysian Football League (MFL).
According to sources in the football fraternity, the grapevine has it that FAM will appoint Saifuddin as Stuart’s successor later this week.
“It should be him since there is a strong rumour of Saifuddin landing the job, but I don’t know if there are any other qualified candidates in the football industry who can continue the good work of Stuart. If there is I don’t know about it.
“We will just have to wait and see,” the source told The Vibes when contacted.
Saifuddin has a wealth of experience in Malaysian football as he was once the assistant general secretary to Datuk Azzuddin Ahmad in 2007 and has also worked with the Asian Football Confederation.
The 61-year-old quit FAM in 2009 to become the first Malaysian football administrator to work overseas and is responsible in putting Oman and Qatar football on the world map.
He was the assistant head of competitions of the Qatar Starts League from May 2009 until October 2012 before taking up the job as technical consultant of competitions and pro league with the Oman FA.
Saifuddin has over 30 years of sports management experience, having been exposed to various football management elements. His strength is in competition management, event management and licensing programme for Football Associations.
Meanwhile, former FAM general secretary Stuart said in a statement that today’s announcement comes with mixed emotions and fulfilment in the job that he has done with FAM.
“I am sad to leave an organisation which I have been so honoured to have served and proud to have worked with Datuk Hamidin from whom I have learnt so much over the past 37 months. He’s someone whom I cannot thank enough for bringing me back to Malaysian football and guiding me every step of the way.
“Now with this MFL opportunity, I have to thank MFL president Dato Ghani and the entire MFL Board for their trust in appointing me to this huge role which provides me with an exciting new challenge to contribute to Malaysian football. I aim to do my best to achieve the required results." The Vibes August 23, 2021
