Stuart Ramalingam Is on a Mission To Fill Local Football Stadiums

The CEO of Malaysian Football League wants to uplift the local football scene

“I always tell people, the guy sitting at the mamak wearing a Manchester United jersey, who has never attended a Selangor, Johor or Kedah game is a low hanging fruit; there’s a generation of lost football fans who have only been following foreign leagues, despite being born locally and never having even set foot to those countries,” says the CEO of the Malaysian Football League (MFL), Stuart Ramalingam.

“These are the fans we need to bring back, because they love football, but leagues don’t have supporters, it’s the clubs [who have supporters], so the states play a major role to bring back these fans. Stuart joined the organisation in September 2021.

He continues: “We must take into context that the Malaysian league is a Malaysian product, unlike the English Premier League, La Liga or Bundesliga. Those are essentially global products, so we’re working on different economics. The revenue opportunities and the business of football for them is very different; and we do a lot of comparisons without realising the facts and figures.

“However, I must add that we have our own strengths. Malaysia is blessed by a very state-based football following, and the numbers of local supporters are great, though mostly from outside KL. You truly need to watch a state match live, and you will notice it for yourself; there’s nothing like Malaysians standing together in the stadium singing the national anthem,” he shares.

Stuart has held several positions within the industry, from working with Fifa itself to the Asian Football Confederation and one of the largest sports marketing agencies, Dentsu Sports Asia.

“Football has always been part of the family DNA; my dad was the one who cultivated me and my brother’s passion in football from a very young age. He allowed us to play and excel in the sport, and I’m just blessed to have a career in football today while having the passion for it,” shares Stuart.

Above Stuart Ramalingam on the pitch of the MBPJ Stadium (Photos: Khairul Imran)

Stuart Ramalingam on the pitch of the MBPJ Stadium (Photos: Khairul Imran)

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While his father used to work and play for the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS), Stuart himself too used to play professionally as an attacking midfielder. “At a very young age I used to play for the Selangor youth team, but also at a very young age I got ruled out due to injury,” shares the accounting and finance graduate on what led him to his current role.

“Previously I had always wanted to do more sports-based degrees, but I’m glad at the way things turned out. When I broke my leg, I thought I’d have to give up wanting a career in football, but life throws curveballs at you, and through the different episodes I’ve been through, here I am now, still doing and working in an industry I’m truly passionate about.”

Now, his role within MFL is to uplift local football—a daunting task, and one that requires support from a number of parties.

“The industry of professional football starts with us; we manage the major competitions locally, such as the Liga Super and the Piala Malaysia. We’re going through a huge transition next year, and part of the restructure that we’ve put together is to first ensure we come out of the pandemic stronger than when we went in.”

On top of the strong communications campaign, he thinks that the industry needs to help bring back supporters to the local scene. Stuart commends the move to redesignate football associations into football clubs. “Football clubs are now converted into private entities, so it’s run more professionally. There’s a sense of ownership and wanting for the club to truly succeed.

“It requires an entire ecosystem that has to change, and I believe we’ve done the hard parts. We’ve started the change but we still need the support from all the players in the industry, from the teams to broadcasters and of course, the supporters themselves,” ends Stuart on a hopeful note.

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