Hoping for Malaysian football to see better days

AS I watched the Malaysia Cup 2025-2026 final between Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) and Kuching City on Saturday, May 23, I couldn’t help feeling that it was not like the matches in the past when all the players on the field were Malaysians.

The competing teams featured almost 85% foreign players, and it was almost like watching an English League Cup Final.

I just don’t understand what Malaysia’s long-term plan is in improving the standard of soccer in the country. Are we going to depend on foreign players forever?

Please don’t forget the recent embarrassment we suffered over the naturalisation scandal that caused the national team to be downgraded and the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to be sanctioned by FIFA as well.

Malaysia used to hammer Japan and South Korea in the 1970s. Now, these two countries, after 30 years of planning and strategising, are qualifying for the World Cup finals and even co-hosted the tournament in 2002.

Meanwhile, Malaysia is losing to Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore.

It would be insane to say we cannot produce 11 good players for our country. What is the stumbling block here?

I believe race and politics should not be mixed with soccer development.

We used to have the Premier Leagues – Group A and Group B – and players from all races were given a chance to play and were drafted to state and national teams.

Please let a neutral and professional body manage FAM without any politicians being involved. Formulate long-term plans and we will definitely see results.

K. PANNEERSELVAM

Kuala Lumpur