A boost to the state's football team is among several in a wish list Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah has for newly-minted Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali.

"Football is the rakyat's game, enjoyed by all and many like to play it.

"Selangor's record is beautiful, so please make sure we do not slide too far down, or else it will be very difficult to come back up again, or to stop the rot," the ruler said in an interview published in The Star today.

The sultan said the state government should focus on training young players to become good football players instead of depending on foreign talent.

The Selangor menteri besar, by default, becomes the Football Association of Selangor president.

Under Azmin's predecessor Khalid Abdul Ibrahim, there had been complaints that Khalid had been too stingy to spend on the sport.

Selangor PAS Youth had in September last year lamented that lack of funds for the state's football team caused several of its notable players to be fished by the Johor football club.

Responding to this, Khalid, who was then sitting on close to RM3 billion in reserves, told them to choose whether they wanted funding for more mosques or for football.

Water problems too must be resolved

"If my friends in PAS Youth wish to know, the yearly allocation for football is more than the money spent to build a mosque. This means we spend more than RM7 million a year.

"So, does PAS Youth want us to build mosques or encourage football. Make the choice," Khalid had then said.

In the interview, the Selangor sultan said he also wanted to see the water supply problems in the state to be resolved in 2015.

The ruler also emphasised on environment protection, stressing that 30 percent of lands in the state must be permanent forest reserves and any de-gazetting must go through proper procedure.

"There must also be stricter laws where severe punishment is meted to those caught illegally opening up land in forest reserves, stealing sand or committing other anti-environmental acts," he is quoted as saying.

The Selangor sultan added he also wished to see more CCTV cameras in high crime areas to ensure the safety of his subjects.