“I don’t need to take advice from a leader who has failed to lead,” he said in a Facebook posting, referring to Annuar only as “a Tan Sri”.

This broadside followed Annuar’s earlier remark that Tunku Ismail should decide if he wanted to become the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president and not lead FAM by proxy.

Tunku Ismail pointed out that Annuar had led Kelantan Football Association into further financial trouble despite a cash injection of RM16 million sponsorship by Vida Beauty. Last month, Annuar resigned as the association president.

The Crown Prince wrote: “When you were in the position where you had numerous sponsors, you should have used that opportunity to clear all your debts. Instead, you made the executive decision to employ a new foreign coach as well as three additional foreign players.

“With this decision, the ones who fell victim were the local players as they didn’t receive their salaries. Priority should be given to the local players and not the foreigners.”

Annuar has responded to these remarks in his own Facebook posting today, saying that there are lessons to be learnt from failed leaders too.

“There is something to learn from a successful person. And, there is also something to learn from people who had failed,” he said, without specifically referring to Tunku Ismail.

“Most importantly, a person should be humble and ready to accept advice as long the advice is honest and sincere. However, sometimes silence is better than speaking…”