Limbering up: The national football team players at a training session ahead of their 2027 Asian Cup third-round qualifier against Nepal on Tuesday. — Bernama
PETALING JAYA: The national team remain as the ‘’baby’’ of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).
Their president Datuk Joehari Ayub asserted that the Harimau Malaya would continue to be a strong part of the FAM and that the presence of Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim was only to help them.
The national team seemed like they were heading toward privatisation with the hiring of former Canadian international Rob Friend as their chief executive officer (CEO) but Joehari said the team would still be under the purview of FAM.
“Harimau Malaya remain under FAM. No one has said that they are not under us,” said Joehari, who was elected last month.
“TMJ (Tunku Ismail) is helping us. We are thankful for what he is doing for us. Whoever wants to help us, we welcome them. He has helped us a lot in terms of preparation.
“The CEO is under the committee’s purview. Everything is still under FAM.”
Meanwhile, Joehari said that his dream was to have a Harimau Malaya squad comprising players who would come through the grassroots system through a comprehensive long-term programme.
“We want to focus on development right now. We will travel to each state and strengthen the foundation. We want our players at the grassroots to grow,” said Joehari.
“We will conduct workshops and introduce modules at the state level.
“We aim to build a Malaysian team from our grassroots system. I hope we will have players only from this nation in future. That would be the dream.”
Malaysia do have some grassroots initiatives like the Suparimau League and the National Football Development Programme ( DP), in which FAM had been collaborating with the National Sports Council (NSC) and Youth and Sports Ministry.
But Joehari added that for the short-term goal, the presence of mixed heritage and naturalised players were needed.
“We recently brought in two heritage players (Hector Havel and Gabriel Palmero). For now, we need them and naturalised players to strengthen the team. I do not see that as an issue.”
The national team’s first assignment this year is their Asian Cup 2027 third-round qualifier match against Nepal on Tuesday at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri.
Their next match against Vietnam on June 10 is set to be held at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
