Star of the day: Arif Aiman Hanapi of JDT in action against Bangkok United during the Asean Club Championships Shopee Cup. - Bernama
PETALING JAYA: While the Malaysian national football team remain under the world’s spotlight, coach Peter Cklamovski is trying his best to keep the players’ focus on their 2027 Asian Cup qualifier against Laos at the New Laos Stadium on Thursday (Oct 9).
The Harimau Malaya have been the talk of the football world after FIFA showed evidence of forgery in seven of their naturalised players’ documentation, resulting in them being suspended from the game for 12 months.
However, Cklamovski isn’t letting the external noise get to his team ahead of their game against Laos.
"It’s something that is totally out of our control. We don’t focus on anything outside the camp," said Cklamovski during the pre-match press conference on Wednesday (Oct 8).
"I understand there is a lot of noise happening at the moment, but it is not in our control and has nothing to do with us.
"We are just focused on preparing well against Laos and putting all our energy into preparing against a tough opponent.
"If we think about anything other than our performance, then we are not doing the game justice."
On Tuesday (Oct 7), FIFA ruled that seven players - Hector Hevel, Jon Irazabal, Gabriel Palmero, Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, and Joao Figueiredo – were found to have violated Article 22 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, which covers the falsification and use of forged documents.
The investigation found that the players had no ancestral claims to Malaysia, and as a result, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) were fined 350,000 Swiss francs (RM1.8mil), and each player 2,000 Swiss francs (RM11,000) along with the one-year ban.
Despite being without the services of several of his players, Cklamovski said the team remain strong and are determined to get a good result against Laos.
"Our team mentality is strong. We are going to work hard for each other and play our football to grow as a national team.
"We want to keep building football for the Malaysian people at home. To give them inspiration from the way we play, and give them hope and belief that we can do something special," he said.
After playing in Laos, both teams will face off again at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Oct 14.
