What is Ghaz Ramli Up To?

(Reblogged from Foul!)

If you are friends of Ghaz Ramli on Facebook, you would be wondering why is this Ipoh-born (now based in Perth) meeting football officials? The Perth Glory FC membership sales and service manager was in Malaysia for several days two weeks ago as he was seen in Kuantan, Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur.

So I asked this former Malay Mail colleague of mine what was he up to.

"I want to help professionalise fans," was his reply.

Say what?

Ghaz, who was a reporter before venturing into public relations and later settled down in Perth, believes his four seasons with Perth Glory will help M-League teams engage and service loyal fans.

"When I was a reporter, I saw how the media was treated and I felt service to media personnel could be better.

"So I quit and ventured into public relations and was able to service media personnel better.
"I decided to challenge myself by taking up a new role ... servicing fans."

He insists fans must be treated with respect and professional - a subject he raised in 2015. And he is well aware supporters, especially in this part of the world, don't get the respect they deserve.

Ghaz remains steadfast in his game plan to revolutionise the servicing of fans in Malaysia.

"I know there are those who don't believe in what I'm trying to do or will simply brush my efforts aside. There will be haters.

"But I don't care about what they think. It is my duty to help my country and I know how to do this."
He threw a challenge to his critics.

"If they think this is just a money-making effort, they are wrong. If they think they know better, than please do it.

"Till today no one has done anything to safeguard the welfare of M-League fans. We are not planning, not encouraging more people to come to the stands. Teams are only hoping that good results will translate into better ticket sales.

He added there was little effort put in place to encourage loyalty and building a brand especially among children.

"We all have our expert opinion on matches, players, coaches and everything but what about the fans? Supporters are the reason why football or teams are famous.

"We need more experienced sports operators in the industry," he added.