Tan Sri Annuar Musa today announced his withdrawal as a candidate for the presidency of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) with immediate effect.

The decision would immediately give way to Tengku Mahkota of Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim to win the seat unopposed.

"No parties or individuals have urged me to make this decision. This is my own decision. I did not talk to anyone, not even my wife.

"I do not want this big family of Malaysian football quarreling among themselves," he told a special media conference at the Parliament lobby today.

Annuar explained that he made the decision as he did not want to see infightings among football supporters and fans in the country.

"I have always said, do not be too excited about football, because in the end, it can lead to war, like in Egypt and in some countries, including in Europe. So, be moderate when dealing with football.

"My objective in making this decision is, hopefully, there would be harmony within the Malaysian football fraternity.

"A harmonious situation among supporters in all states, harmonious situation among football administration officials and harmonious situation among competing teams," he said.

Thus, he expressed hope that the new leadership in FAM could stay focused to bring real change to the country's football industry.

"My hope is, everyone would focus on improving the quality of our football. There have been too much rhetorics and promises. This has been the case since my days as the deputy president.

"There has been no real change. So, we have to be serious at the moment. Give the new president a chance. He is a very committed person, to the extent that he has come out with manifesto as reported in the newspaper today. So, we should give him a chance.

"But, please make sure it is within the brotherhood spirit and atmosphere. This is important," he said.

At the same time, Annuar denied making the decision because of the move to release him temporarily as Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) chairman.