2010/01/20
THE FA of Malaysia (FAM) must be held responsible for its fickle-mindedness which resulted in the National Under-21 team not having a league to play in.
Earlier, there were high hopes of the team featuring in the competitive S-League, which starts next month, but FAM's request was shot down by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS).
Now the only taste of S-League action the team will get is when they face Balestier Khalsa FC in a friendly match today.
FAS, however, stated that the door is not shut on the national Under-21 team as they will be considered for next season.
The team were supposed to play as Young Tigers 'A' in this season's Super League but FAM decided to bar them on the ground of exposing them to a more competitive league overseas.
Now where will they go? The players' contracts with FAM run until May and the national body needs to decide what to do with them soon.
My guess is that the players will continue to train as a unit and play a series of friendly matches throughout the year.
But can FAM arrange 20 or 30 matches this year for the players to ensure they stay competitive and fit? I believe it will be an impossible task.
In the first place, why did FAM bar the team from the Super League, a decision made at its last council meeting in December, before having a proper plan for the boys?
After all, the team had qualified for the Super League on merit by virtue of winning last season's Premier League.
In my view, it was a move to allow relegated Pahang to feature in the top flight.
On another issue, it is still not known whether last season's debt-ridden clubs have settled their dues.
FAM was supposed to bar state and club teams, who failed to settle their debts, from competing this season.
Late last year, the national body had claimed that all the teams had settled their debts but recent reports in local dailies suggest otherwise.
So why are these teams still in the Super League and Premier League? This not good for local football.
Who are the victims here... of course, it's the players.
In the long run, players who are unpaid may opt to "sell" matches. Do we blame the players or the state teams if they make deals with bookies in order to have money?
On another pressing issue, the Education Ministry brought the axe down on 11 sports for this year's Malaysian Schools Sports Council (MSSM) competition, and among the key sports to get the chop were bowling, squash, archery and sailing.
What a stupid decision... doesn't the ministry realise that it is killing sports in this country?
A total of 13 sports will be contested but of that golf, badminton, netball, basketball, volleyball, sepaktakraw, football, tennis and hockey will not have Under-15 competition.
The reason is due to a budget slash. If this is the case, then why are we still spending millions of ringgit organising world class sport events in the country? Shouldn't the money be used to develop youngsters with potential into world class athletes?
This decision will likely have a cross-over effect as states may opt not to organise competitions for sports dropped from the MSSM calendar.
And the question I would like to pose to the Education Ministry is, doesn't a small percentage from students' school fees go to the ministry for sports development? Where does the money go?
If this trend continues then sports in Malaysia will suffer a slow death.
