Ticket prices should not be a factor for Harimau Malaya fans' no-show

KUALA LUMPUR - Ticket prices should not be an issue for loyal football fans to flock to the stadium and support the Harimau Malaya squad in the opening Group D match against Kyrgyzstan in the second round of the 2026 World Cup/2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers, tomorrow.

The clash between the national squad coached by Kim Pan Gon and 'The White Falcons' squad, which is one of the top 100 teams in the world, will take place at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.

National football legend Azman Adnan, for one, said that the spirit of love for the country should outweigh ticket prices.

According to the formidable former Selangor striker, the national players always expect solid support from the fans, dubbed the 12th player.

"If in the past supporters would save money, forgo food to buy football tickets to the stadium, why not now? The date of this match was set a long time ago so supporters who really love their country have had time to save money.

"I am sad to see young people these days spending hundreds and almost thousands of ringgit buy concert tickets for foreign artistes, but not willing to do the same for national football troopers. The ticket price is not even RM100,” he told Bernama.

Sharing the sentiment is defence squad legend Datuk Jamal Nasir Ismail who also expresses disappointment with fans who wanted football ticket prices 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 hoped the fans would come to the stadium and give unwavering support to the Harimau Malaya squad in the hunt for three important 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 Nov 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. - BERNAMA