Johor Darul Ta’zim took pride in announcing that they are the first Malaysian football club to have been given the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) license and accreditation. The announcement was made on the Johor Southern Tigers Facebook page earlier this month.
That also makes Johor Darul Ta’zim the only team in Malaysia that is qualified to compete in the prestigious competition, in line with the rules enforced for participation for the 2018 season.
However, JDT might not be able to boast that reputation much longer, as there is another club in Malaysia that in on the right track to be accredited by AFC and receive a license from them.
If you still haven’t made a guess, it’s Selangor-based club, PKNS FC.
According to PKNS FC’s president, Siti Zubaidah Abdul Jabar, PKNS FC has met AFC’s criteria’s to be accredited, like solid financial status involving broadcasting rights, sponsorship and league management.
Apart from that, clubs looking for AFC accreditation must meet other criteria like having their own stadiums, have youth development programmes with youth teams in the clubs, no overdue payments, a logistics system, accommodation and so on.
In an interview with Bernama, Siti Zubaidah further explained that both FAM (Football Association of Malaysia) and FMLLP (Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership) have visited PKNS FC’s academy for supervision.
“FAM and FMLLP were happy at the facilities they saw when they visited the PKNS FC Academy in November, saying we are almost there,” she happily reiterated.
“Documentations such as standard operating procedure, PKNS FC football academy organisation chart and others are still in the gathering stage.”
Siti Zubaidah also added an AFC will be sending over a representative to PKNS FC to assess the facilities after all the documents are submitted to them.
Watch out Southern Tigers, the Red Ants are close behind!
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