Despite having started working on their privatisation process since 2019 and last month saying that the process would be completed by mid-September, Selangor were curiously absent from the list of 12 Malaysian teams that have completed the privatisation/separation process announced by the Malaysian FA (FAM) earlier this week.
According to the Red Giants secretary-general Johan Kamal Hamidon, their process has been held back by one minor yet bizarre matter; the 33-time Malaysia Cup champions haven't been able to come up with a permissible new crest.
FAM has stipulated that clubs formed out of the current football associations (FA) need to register a new crest, as required by Asian Football Confederation (AFC) regulations. Selangor however are adamant on using their current FA crest as the new football club (FC) crest.
"We've been delayed because we're still finalising the logo (crest), that's why we haven't completed the submission process," explained Johan to Goal via telephone call on Thursday. "The current [FA] crest is very valuable to us, and initially we negotiated to retain it. However, the AFC is very adamant on the crest change.
"We only want to change a few minor things, but the problem is, we then can't register it as a new crest as it would be too similar to the parent logo. It would be like trying to trademark the Nike swoosh design as your own by simply changing the name to Niko or Niki."
On top of needing a completely new crest, another issue that has bogged down their effort to retain their FA crest is that it includes the Selangor state government crest at the top of it, which requires their newly-formed FC to seek the state's approval.
Zulhilmi Zainal
Current Selangor crest
Regardless of the last-minute snag, Johan insists that they will be able to complete their privatisation process before its September 30 due date.
We've finalised our design, so it shouldn't be a problem. I'm not too concerned about it because we'll submit our documentations to FAM by today (Thursday, September 24) or tomorrow. We've found a solution, which is the most important thing, and the best solution is to preserve as much as we can from what we have now.
"Basically, the Selangor FA has agreed to hand over the rights to alter its logo to the new [club] company; the Red Giants FC. So now the rights to manage and alter the crest is with the FC, and the FC is currently working on passing the requirements stipulated by the AFC. To be honest, there won't be too many changes [on the crest]. It's still the old trademark, but with extended or minor alterations to the parent logo. We just need the AFC to decide that the changes are acceptable," he said.
Goal also asked the club official about the 'SFC' logo that the club have used this year on many of their merchandise.
FA Selangor
"That was never intended as the new crest, it was just to signify the privatisation process."
However, he explained that the Red Giants are not against the idea of a crest change, only that they have their own plans for the move.
"We have our own timeline for the crest change, we want to do it at the right time and now is not, so that's why we've been reluctant to come up with a new crest now.
"The privatisation push has always been approached from top down. There's no right or wrong to it, but I believe that a crest change would be more suitable once Selangor achieve something more significant under its president; the Crown Prince [of Selangor, Tengku Amir Shah]. We want to unveil a new crest with the unveiling of a new Selangor," noted Johan.
