KUALA LUMPUR, May 1 — Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing said tourist arrivals in Malaysia continue to grow despite the Middle East conflict.

Tiong said this during a press conference with local media following the launch of the Rain Rave Water Music Festival (RRWMF) at Bukit Bintang last night.

“Up until today, our tourist numbers continue to grow, thank God for helping us.

“Although there is a dip in tourists from the Middle East, there is a slight increase in the number of tourists coming from Asian and European countries,” Tiong said.

He added that the decline in tourist numbers from the Middle East is due to the current US-Israel conflict with Iran, which is contributing to a global energy crisis.

Apart from that, Tiong also said that in light of the current economic situation, the RRWMF programme is one of the ways to further spur local economic growth, while dismissing critics who called the three-day music festival a waste of resources.

“We have conducted thorough calculations and internal discussions; this is far from a waste of resources,” Tiong clarified.

“Without initiatives like this, tourist arrivals would likely dwindle. Furthermore, these programmes provide vital business opportunities for the B40 community. How can we expect to revitalise our economy if we do not create these platforms?”

“We must help them but at the same time, whichever areas we can save, we save, and whichever need a bit of push, we can run programmes — this is to help stabilise the local economy,” he added.

The three-day RRWMF runs from April 30 to May 2 and is held in conjunction with the Visit Malaysia Year 2026 campaign, which aims to attract 43 million visitors to the country.

VANCOUVER, May 1 — Fifa President Gianni Infantino reiterated that Iran will play their World Cup games in the United States as scheduled, as football’s power-brokers met in Vancouver yesterday. 

Iran’s participation at this year’s World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the United States has been shrouded in uncertainty since the eruption of war in the Middle East in February following strikes by the United States and Israel.

Infantino, who has repeatedly stated that Iran will be at the World Cup, underscored that stance at the start of his address to delegates as Fifa’s 76th Congress got underway in western Canada.

“Let me start by the outset, confirming straightaway that of course Iran will be participating at the Fifa World Cup 2026,” Infantino said. “And of course, Iran will play (in) the United States of America.”

Infantino’s remarks drew swift support from close ally US President Donald Trump, who told reporters in the Oval Office he was “OK” with Iran’s participation.

“Well, if Gianni said it, I’m OK,” Trump said. “I think let ‘em play.”

Iranian officials had floated the idea of shifting their group games from the United States to Mexico, but that proposal had already been nixed by Infantino.

In a further twist last week, Italy-born US special envoy Paolo Zampolli was reported to have floated the idea of Italy taking Iran’s World Cup place.

The US government later distanced themselves from that proposal, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying Iran’s footballers would be welcome.

But the tension surrounding Iran’s World Cup participation rumbled into the build-up to Thursday’s summit.

Iran’s delegation was the only absentee from the 211-member congress as Thursday’s meeting got under way after a clash with Canadian border officials earlier this week.

Officials from the Iranian football federation (FFIRI) abruptly left Canada after landing in Toronto, abandoning their onward trip to Vancouver.

Iranian media said FFIRI president Mehdi Taj—a former member of Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — and two colleagues flew home after being “insulted” by Canadian immigration officers.

Canada, which designated the IRGC a terrorist organization in 2024, said Wednesday that individuals linked to the force were “inadmissible.”

Iran, who are due to be based in Tucson, Arizona, during the World Cup, face New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt in Group G.

The Iranians open their World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Los Angeles on June 15.

Infantino election boost 

Fifa supremo Infantino went into yesterday’s summit with his organization under fire over skyrocketing ticket costs for the World Cup, which one supporters group has branded a “monumental betrayal” of fans.

Infantino brushed off those criticisms in his address, insisting that all revenues from the World Cup—estimated between US$11 and US$13 billion—would be pumped back into football development.

“There are expensive tickets, yes, (but) there are also affordable tickets,” Infantino said. “And what is important is that all the revenues that we generate from the world go back to the entire world and finance football in all of your countries.”

Infantino’s close ties to US President Trump have also come under scrutiny.

Advocacy group Fairsquare filed a formal complaint in December arguing that Infantino had breached FIFA rules concerning political neutrality by awarding Trump the inaugural “FIFA Peace Prize” during last year’s World Cup draw.

However Infantino received a huge boost to his hopes of securing re-election as the head of world football yesterday after receiving pledges of support from the African and Asian regional confederations.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have both said they will back Infantino if, as expected, he stands for a fourth term in 2027.

The African and Asian confederations account for 101 votes in FIFA’s presidential election out of a total of 211.

Infantino has already secured support for re-election from South American football’s ruling body CONMEBOL, which is worth a further 10 votes. — AFP

BRAGA, May 1 — Braga will take a slender advantage to Germany for the return leg of their Europa League semi-final after Mario Dorgeles scored in injury-time to give the hosts a 2-1 win over Freiburg in the first leg yesterday. 

Demir Ege Tiknaz opened the scoring early for the hosts, before Vincenzo Grifo quickly levelled for Freiburg.

Despite being forced into numerous changes due to injuries, Carlos Vicens’ Braga made a roaring start in their first European semi-final for 15 years.

Turkey midfielder Tiknaz slid in to finish from close range on eight minutes at their Estadio Municipal.

The lead only lasted eight minutes as Freiburg playmaker Grifo applied a cool finish to Jan-Niklas Beste’s pinpoint cross.

After a frantic opening quarter-hour, the match calmed down until one minute before the interval as VAR intervened to award a penalty to Braga after Philipp Lienhart fouled Gustaf Lagerbielke.

However, German shotstopper Noah Atubolu plunged to his right to tip Rodrigo Zalazar’s effort from 12 yards to safety.

Braga boss Vicens made attacking changes in the second period.

The breakthrough came for Braga two minutes into added time as Atubolu spilled Vitor Carvalho’s effort and Dorgeles was on hand to squeeze the ball home from close range.

“Even after we conceded, the team prevailed. We missed a penalty and still managed to win,” Vicens said.

“The team never stopped wanting to win... And we got the reward in the form of a 2-1 victory.

“In Germany, Freiburg will try to turn it around and we will have to be ready to give a good performance again.”

The winners of the tie will meet either Nottingham Forest or Aston Villa in the final on May 20 in Istanbul. Forest won the first leg of the clash between the two Premier League rivals 1-0. — AFP

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A man has allegedly stolen nearly $3,000 worth of diesel in jerry cans and drums from a South Sydney service station.

Police said they were told a driver of a white ute allegedly filled large drums and jerry cans with 915 litres of diesel, valued at over $2,870 (or about $3.14 a litre), without paying at about 7.15pm on 11 April.