The State of Malaysian Football

Apparently the FAM received RM300 million in sponsorship money from Dunhill between 1997 and 2005. The standard of Malaysian football however is nowhere near where it was in the 60s and 70s, which really proves the point that money can never buy success.

The formation of the semi-pro league in 1989 and its subsequent transformation into full professional status in the early 90s didn't achieve its desired effect of turning Malaysia into a respected football powerhouse. In January 1993 we were ranked 79th. As at 14 January 2009, FIFA ranked Malaysia 158th, down 2 rungs from a month ago. In Asia, we are ranked 29th, one spot below Maldives (no disrespect to them, but Maldives?). After the recent 5-0 mauling in the hands of the UAE, I won’t be surprised if we fall further down the rankings.

So, where did we go wrong? Why were the teams from the 60s and 70s so successful? Maybe instead of analysing what we did wrong, we should see how we can improve things.

Football, like any sport, should start from young, the very young. The trainers must also be of a certain standard. There should be continuity and consistency in the training and development programme and methods. We can’t be changing policies and systems every other year unless they are proven to be seriously flawed. Having said that, a policy or system can only be judged over a number of years and no fair conclusion can be made after only 12 or even 18 months.

Malaysia is a small-ish country with a small population therefore the stock of potential footballers is small. Given the limited resources, we can either take the Singapore route to success, i.e. buy success by naturalising foreigners (where is the glory in that?) or do things the right way by properly nurturing our young talents.

What I think we should do:

• Develop and train a pool of qualified coaches, at least at the ratio of 1 for every 10 primary schools. Have a proper, long term programme for coaches’ development.
  
• Train football managers, they have university courses teaching Golf Management, why not football management? Syllabus should include human resources, law, finance, public relations in addition to the footballing/physical education aspects.
  
• Set up and properly manage football clubs in large towns. Bigger towns may have more than one club.
  

Club structure must consist of :

• Youth teams (U-8, U-10, U-12, U-16, U-18, U-20), Futsal team;
• Own stadium and training facilities (pitch, gym, clubhouse with classroom, shower, medical rooms & recreational facilities);
• Professional & qualified management and coaching team. (Qualified and full time club manager, secretary, HR & finance officers, one coach for each team, physio, fitness coach);
• Clubs are to be run like a business; they must source for revenue (via ticket sales, sponsorships, selling advertising space in their stadiums etc), pay taxes, contribute to EFP and adhere to laws and regulations. Player contracts must be honoured;
• Clubs must not depend on handouts/grants from FAs for their operational expenses.
  

National FA must organise a proper league with a fixed calendar (adjusted for fasting month). Format, rules and regulations for the league must be consistent;

• All teams in all division will get a share of the prize money according to ranking at the end of the season;
• Organise a parallel league for all junior teams.
• State FAs to organise amateur state leagues.
• Two national teams, A team and the back-up B team, in addition to the age group teams.
  

League structure:

• All clubs qualify to play in league.
• Assuming total clubs in the country = 50
  Inaugural league will be broken into 5 geographical zones of 10 teams, playing home and away.
  The top 3 teams from each zone will make up the first division, next 3 teams, the second division and the last 4 teams from each zone makes the third division.
  Top 2 teams of the second and third division will be promoted up and bottom 2 from the first and second divisions will be relegated. Teams ranked third in the second and third divisions will play against the team third from bottom in the first and second division, the winners will play in the first and second division respectively.


• Keep the Malaysia Cup prestigious – only the top 8 teams from the top division qualify to play in the Malaysia cup, 2 leg knock out format. The final will be held at nation’s main stadium.


• FAM Cup – one leg knock out tournament. Teams from top division separated during first round draw. The first round of 64 teams will include the 50 teams from league and 14 champions of the state leagues.
  

This sounds a lot like the structure European football. Well, they seem quite successful, why can’t use their model? Maybe we’ll be successful too.