FAM must iron things out with state FAs and clubs

I REFER to the sport reports “What a joke!” (The Star, July 6) and “Bad to worse” (July 7). It is heartbreaking to read that only six turned up for the national Under-23 team training, and the next day four of them rejoined their state and club teams for the Malaysia Cup and M-League matches.

Strangely, in our country there are players who prefer to don state/club instead of the national jersey. Money is probably the root cause of the predicament in Malaysian football. A player’s salary is his main source of income and he is contracted to the state or club but is released periodically to play for the national team.