SHAH ALAM, Oct 2 — The Selangor football team is now known as the Selangor Football Club (Selangor FC) after the club's privatisation process was officially approved by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), on Tuesday.
Selangor Football Association (FAS) secretary-general Dr Johan Kamal Hamidon, however, said the team would still retain its logo in the form of a shield, with the Selangor coat of arms emblazoned at the top.
He said the only difference in the Selangor FC logo compared to the previous one is that the word ‘association’ is replaced with ‘club’.
"The decision to continue using the existing logo for Selangor FC is because the logo is quite meaningful and symbolic, having long been associated with the Red Giants.
"It is also a symbol of courage and sovereignty that the Selangor team has and it is not easy to change it just like that," he said in a statement on the official FAS portal, today.
Johan said Selangor would continue to operate and compete as FAS until the end of this season as league rules and regulations do not allow the transfer or exchange of entities when the tournament is in progress.
"All communications, branding and management under Selangor FC will officially start on December 1 in line with the start of the new football season," he said.
Commenting on the privatisation of the team, Johan said the difference between FAS and Selangor FC would be on their different roles.
"FAS will focus on the development of the Selangor grassroots while Selangor FC will strive to develop the elite football team and the commercialisation of Selangor football at the professional level.
"FAS and Selangor FC will continue to work together even though the two entities have different tasks. The main goal is to help each other to improve the Selangor state football industry," he said.
He said Selangor FC under the management of Red Giants FC Sdn Bhd which is owned by several shareholders including the Raja Muda of Selangor Tengku Amir Shah Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah as the major shareholder, Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS), Menteri Besar Incorporated (MBI) and FAS.
"However, this shareholding structure is not final and permanent as Red Giants FC Sdn Bhd is always open to accepting investors who are interested in becoming shareholders of the company," he said.
— Bernama
