JOHOR BAHRU, Aug 19 (Bernama) -- The Johor government has announced Aug 25 as a special event holiday as an appreciation for the support provided by fans of Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) football club that will appear in the 2024 FA Cup final.
Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said the holiday was granted with the consent of the Regent of Johor, Tunku Mahkota Ismail .
“With the consent of Tunku Mahkota Ismail, the Johor government has announced Aug 25 as a special event holiday in appreciation of the fans who have supported the JDT team throughout its journey to the FA Cup final,” he said through a post on Facebook today.
He said all Johorians are urged to come and support JDT who meet Selangor in the FA Cup final at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium (SNBJ) on Aug 24.
“I call on all Johorians to come together this Saturday to cheer and cheer as JDT's '12th Player', we will fill the SNBJ in a sea of red and blue,” he said.
He said JDT's victory this time will create a hat-trick of FA Cup wins after lifting the cup two years in a row-in 2022 and 2023.
Onn Hafiz meanwhile, said the JDT club has gone through various transformations, reshuffles and successes that started with the appointment of Tunku Mahkota Ismail as the President of Johor FA (PBNJ) on Feb 16, 2012.
“The year 2013 was the year that JDT or Harimau Selatan made its debut under the new transformation initiative, and in the following years success after success began to be forged starting with winning the Super League and maintaining the championship a record 10th sonsecutive time last year,” he said.
Onn Hafiz said JDT did not wait long to make history in 2015 by being the only East Asian team to win the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup and showing consistent improvement in the AFC Champions League when making another history by being able to qualify for the knockout round of the best 16 teams in AFC.
According to him, the record makes all proud when a club from Johor is able to compete with the best clubs in Asia, thus being ranked ninth in Asia recently and putting the name of Harimau Selatan on the highest stage and promoting Johor to the world through collaboration with clubs and prominent brands.
-- BERNAMA