Tunku Ismail Idris

Profile Overview

Tunku Ismail ibni Sultan Ibrahim (Jawi: تونكو إسماعيل ابن سلطان إبراهيم; né Tunku Ismail Idris Abdul Majid Abu Bakar Iskandar ibni Tunku Ibrahim Ismail, born 30 June 1984) is the heir apparent to the Johor throne. He is the Regent (Pemangku Sultan) and Crown Prince (Tunku Mahkota) of Johor, and the eldest son of Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar and Raja Zarith Sofiah. He was proclaimed Regent of Johor on 28 January 2024, days before his father acceded as the 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia.
Tunku Ismail trained at the Indian Military Academy and was commissioned into the Indian Army. In 2007 he led a mounted column of the 61 Cavalry regiment at India's Republic Day parade, the first foreigner to command an Indian Army unit on the occasion. He has been noted for his religious moderation. He owns the football club Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C., which in 2015 became the first Southeast Asian club to win the AFC Cup, and he was president of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) from 2017 to 2018.
Tunku Ismail has been the subject of several controversies. He was accused of assault after a 2008 confrontation with members of the Negeri Sembilan royal family at a Kuala Lumpur hotel and after a 2014 incident in the players' tunnel at a Piala FA match; neither case led to charges. In 2024, a member of his security escort assaulted a deaf Grab driver in Kuala Lumpur and was fined RM1,000. He has had a long-running public dispute with Muar MP Syed Saddiq, whom he has repeatedly called a populist. In 2025, FIFA sanctioned FAM over falsified documents used to naturalise seven players whom Tunku Ismail had approved, and he rejected the ruling.