Saifuddin’s special duties officer, Omar Mokhtar A Manap, confirmed this after Zubair Ismail failed to apologise within the three-day deadline set out in a letter of demand issued on April 4.

“So far, we haven’t received any apology from (Zubair), so we will proceed with the lawsuit,” he told FMT.

According to the letter of demand issued by SN Nair & Partners. Saifuddin wanted Zubair to issue a public apology for allegedly publishing defamatory claims in a March 26 Facebook post under the account “Tam Jebat”.

In the post, Zubair claimed that Saifuddin had ordered the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and the Inland Revenue Board to investigate KDA FC, causing sponsors to withdraw support from the team.

Zubair also accused Saifuddin of allegedly trying to position himself as a “hero” by rescuing the club.

The next day, Zubair allegedly uploaded a video on TikTok under the account “‘@doubletree9977”, repeating the same allegations.

The letter of demand claimed that the statements had caused public confusion and damaged Saifuddin’s reputation, especially among football fans.

On March 26, media reports confirmed that Saifuddin had met with KDA FC owner Daud Bakar to discuss the team’s future direction.

The minister later clarified that the meeting was held in his personal capacity, driven by his interest in football and the Kedah team.

Contacted by FMT, Zubair declined to comment.

However, in a recent social media post, he said he had been summoned by Bukit Aman’s classified criminal investigation unit to have his statement recorded at the Anak Bukit police station in Kedah.

He said he would fully cooperate with the investigation.