KUALA LUMPUR – Ticket prices should not be an issue for loyal football fans flocking to the stadium tomorrow to support Harimau Malaya in the opening Group D match against Kyrgyzstan in the second round of the 2026 World Cup/2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers.
The national team, coached by Kim Pan Gon, will face The White Falcons, one of the top 100 teams in the world, at Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
National football legend Azman Adnan said that the spirit of love for the country should outweigh ticket prices.
The former Selangor striker, dubbed the “12th player”, claims that the national team players always count on strong fan support.
“If supporters used to save money and forego food to buy football tickets, why not now? The date of this match was set a long time ago, so supporters who truly love their country have had time to save money.
“It saddens me that young people these days are willing to spend hundreds and even thousands of ringgit on concert tickets for foreign artists but are unwilling to do the same for national football troopers. The ticket price is not even RM100,” he said.
Sharing the sentiment is defence squad legend Datuk Jamal Nasir Ismail, who also expressed disappointment with fans who wanted football tickets to be sold at Rahmah prices.
He said the ticket price set by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) is indeed reasonable.
“If supporters still ask for Rahmah tickets, I think that is too much. The current ticket price is already reasonable because FAM has to pay stadium rent and other incidentals.
“In fact, RM2 from the ticket price will go to the Palestine fund, so apart from supporting national football, we are also helping the Palestinians,” said the former Pahang defender.
He said the fans’ no-show at the stadium because of the alleged expensive tickets will have a negative impact on the players who also sacrifice to make the country proud.
Therefore, Jamal hopes that fans will come to the stadium and show their unwavering support for Harimau Malaya as they compete for three crucial points tomorrow.
As of this morning, 7,587 tickets for the Malaysia-Kyrgyzstan match have been sold.
FAM had set ticket prices for the match against Kyrgyzstan at RM40 (adults) and RM5 (children 6-12 years old) for the open category, RM60 for the grandstand category, and RM80 for the premium category.
Yesterday, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh reportedly asked FAM to consider lowering ticket prices after football fans called for Rahmah ticket prices to enable them to flock to the stadium.
After two matches this month, including against Taiwan in Taipei on November 21, Malaysia are scheduled to play against Oman, away on March 21 and at home on March 26, followed by the away match against Kyrgyzstan on June 6, and finally at home against Taiwan on June 11 at Bukit Jalil. – November 15, 2023