Sultan of Pahang Sultan Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah Ibni Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Al-Musta’in Billah has been sworn as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
In a ceremony that was steeped in tradition at Istana Negara the 59-year-old monarch will be Malaysia’s king for a five-year term which begins on Thursday (Jan 31, 2019).
Sultan Al-Abdullah succeeds Sultan Muhammad V, the Sultan of Kelantan who stepped down on Jan 6 2019 as the 15th Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
At the same ceremony Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizuddin Shah was proclaimed as the Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
The sports world is abuzz with the installation of Sultan Al-Abdullah, a keen sportsman himself, for his keen involvement in sports at all levels, both local and international.
Sultan Al-Abdullah is a keen footballer and also plays golf, hockey, tennis, polo, horse riding apart from go-kart racing and scuba diving.
Known for his sporting spirit Sultan Al-Abdullah never wants to be treated as a “royal” when playing the sport but to be treated as an equal with his rakyat (people).
Sultan Al-Abdullah is the former president of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and the Malaysian Hockey Confederation and is the current president of the Asian Hockey Confederation.
He also sits on the executive board of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and is member of the FIFA executive committee and is a council member of the Asean Football Federation.
Al-Sultan Abdullah’s wide knowledge in sports is recognized internationally and this reflected in his appointment as Chairman of the organizing committee of 1977 FIFA World Youth Cup which was hosted by Malaysia; member of the organizing committee of 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup (Paris).
He was also appointed as the chairman of the organizing committee of the 2011 FIP Polo World Cup, which was held in Kuala Lumpur and Pekan, Pahang.
Another feather in Al-Sultan Abdullah’s cap was chairing the organizing committee of the 2012 FIH Congress in Kuala Lumpur. He was also the chairman of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup held in Australia.
Al-Sultan Abdullah was also deeply involved in the 2018 World Cup, Russia as organizing committee member.
Not to be missed is the highly successful annual six-nation Sultan of Johor Cup Invitational Under-21 tournament – a key tournament in the FIH calendar .
The Sultan of Johor Cup is the brainchild of Al-Sultan Abdullah and Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar with both playing a huge role in the huge success of the tournament. – BYÂ RIZAL ABDULLAHÂ
