Hamidin's salary is RM90,000 a month?
Kuala Lumpur: The President of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin considers the question about the amount of the salary scale he earned as President of the parent body FAM to be personal and it is not necessary for him to share it.
However, he said, the main thing that all parties need to understand is that the decision to allow the FAM President to receive a salary was approved by the Supreme Committee (Exco) of the parent body when under the administration of Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim as the previous FAM President.
Hamidin insisted that his status as a full-time president and receiving several benefits had already been established when he was elected as FAM President in 2018 to replace Tunku Ismail who at that time still held the title of Tunku Mahkota Johor (TMJ).
"I want to inform you that when Tunku Ismail was FAM President and he wanted to hand over his position at that time, there was an opinion that there was no need for royals to enter (to be FAM President).
"So Tunku Ismail wants an individual who can be a full-time president like some countries like South Korea, Thailand, Mongolia, Guam, Japan and Vietnam do.
"In fact, the President of the AFC, Sheikh Salman Ibrahim Al Khalifa and the President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino are also full-time presidents and receive several benefits.
"Tunku Ismail proposed me as president with some benefits and after discussion, I agreed before being announced as full-time Executive President. I also brought this matter to the congress and they agreed to give me support," he said.
Earlier, a letter sent by an unknown individual exposed corruption and misuse of power in FAM's leadership and management.
It included the disclosure of the lucrative salary Hamidin received as President which was claimed to be RM90,000 per month and that did not include allowances from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Fifa.
The amount clearly attracted the attention of local football fans who described it as quite lucrative when its function was only to take care of a sports association in a country that was only ranked 132 in the world.