# Mosques and orphanages benefit from JDT’s AFC Cup win
# Bangsa Johor turn out in force to greet the Southern Tigers
# AFC Cup will go on parade in all districts
HRH Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar will donate RM1 million to orphanages while HRH Brig Gen Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim will donate to all mosques in the state of Johor following Johor Darul Tazim’s historic AFC Cup win on Oct 31.
The win is a first by a Malaysian team to win the Asian title and along the way also became the first team from the country to reach the semi-finals and advance to the final. In the final played in Dushanbe in Tajikistan on Saturday, JDT defeated Tajik club FC Istiklol 1-0 with a 23rd minute goal by Aregntine hot-shot Leandro Valazquez.
“This is a personal vow I made…to donate RM1 million to orphanages in Johor to celebrate of JDT win the (AFC) Cup. I will fulfill the vow. It is a historic win for the team and to become the first team in the country to achieve that,” said HRH Sultan in a posting on his Facebook.
HRH Sultan Ibrahim also revealed that Tunku Ismail was very emotional when he phoned the Crown Prince of Johor in Argentina after JDT won the final. Tunku Ismail will return home on November 18.
The Crown Prince is in Argentina for a polo tournament and was unable to watch the final in Dushanbe. Also in Dushanbe were Chief Minister of Johor Dato Khaled Nordin, State Secretary Datuk Ismail Karim, who is also the president of the Johor FA, several state executive councillors and several guns from the private sector.
The Southern Tigers returned to Johor Bahru on Tuesday and welcomed by massive crowds.
The Cup and the team were on an open decked bus which began its journey from the Larkin Stadium – the home of the Southern Tigers – and the route included the Larkin Bomba, Jalan Tun Abdul Razak, the City Square and JBCC (Komtar) in the heart of the city along Jalan Wong Ah Fook, past Tropical Inn and Jalan Trus, past Kotaraya, Jalan Ibrahim, Jalan Tun Dr Ismail, Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Danga Bay, Istana Bukit Serene before heading to Dataran Bandaraya.
There were several other cultural activities to celebrate the occasion with local singer Ayai belting out some of his top hits. There were also fireworks much to the delight of the crowd.
Putting that aside, JDT have another important task on Thursday – the Group B Malaysia Cup match against Perak at the Stadium in Ipoh.
JDT have already qualified for the Malaysia Cup quarter-finals after defeating Sarawak 3-0 in their last match to remain at the top with an unbeaten record.
JDT have 12 points – winning all their four matches.
