COACH CALLS LESS FOREIGN FLAVOUR IN MALAYSIA

Coach calls for less foreign flavour in Malaysia | https://www.nst.com.my/sports/football/2019/06/498440/coach-calls-less-foreign-flavour-malaysia

By Tony Mariadass

Foreign players in MFL - done more good or harm?

The foreign players in the Malaysian Football League (MFL) have been hotly debated time and over again, but the stakeholders seem to justify the need for foreigners despite the many problems that arise from it.

An honest assessment of the foreign players’ presence, without any invested interest but solely the interest of Malaysian football at heart has to be undertaken.

A relook on the growing presence of foreign players in the M-League is in order.

But there will also be two schools of thought and it is now a question balancing the thoughts to come up with a more practical solution. 

B. Sathianathan, former international and national coach, currently coaching Selangor, agreed there needs a review of the number of foreign players.

“The AFC competition which is of high standards is one of the reasons teams in the in the Super League need to have foreign players to have a decent run if the qualify,” said Sathianathan.

“But Premier League should be confined to lesser foreign players, maybe only 3 and the third-tier league – no foreign players.”

Sathianathan also suggested when Super League meet lower division teams in the FA Cup, they should be only allowed to use three foreigners if they meet Premier League teams or none if they meet M3 League teams.

“This will create a more level playing field and also give chance to local players especially from Super League teams competitive playing time,” said the 61-year-old coach.

“I agree that our national team is short of quality players because the local players do not get enough competitive playing time because of the presence of foreign players.

“But the situation can be addressed if quality foreign players are hired who can spur local players to raise their standard.”

Sathianathan cited JDT FC’s Muhammad Safawi Rasid Dungun born player, whose current standard is because he trains and plays with top quality foreign players and his forced to raise his own standards to find a place in the team.

“Players like Safawi and other top local players should also strive to play with clubs overseas where the league is of higher standards.

“That is one way for local players to improve. Just look at top players for countries like Japan, Korea and even Thailand – they have their top players playing overseas.”

Sathianathan also agreed the poor selection of foreign players is a problem.

While he admitted that poor selection rest with coaches and team management, but he also said that many coaches do not have the opportunity to select the best foreign players because of their short contracts with teams.

“When coaches are given year to year contracts and expect to produce results immediately, they do not have the luxury to plan ahead. With longer contracts, coaches can send out their scouts or assistant coaches to look for the best players for the next season.

“But with time not on their side, they have to depend on videos, CVs, recommendations by agents and short trial periods. Sometime we are lucky to make the right decisions in the short period, but more often we are short changed.”

This season saw 78 foreigners in in Super League which is 20.6% of the 378 players registered and 41 foreign players in Premier League.

At the midseason transfer window (May 2-29) saw 32 imports registered.

This clearly underlines the poor selection at the start of the season although Malaysian Football League (MFL) chief operating officer Mohd Shazli Shaik Mohd seems pleased with the number because it is less than last year – 35.

He claimed that the management of teams are now more mature and wiser, resulting in not too many players’ movement during midseason (including locals – 28 as compared to 36 previous season) and that it was a positive thing.

But really when millions of ringgit are spent on foreign players and neglecting development, the situation needs to be addressed.

Another former national player and coach and currently coach of PKNS, Datuk K. Rajagobal, agreed too that a more stringent selection of foreign players is needed and maybe the number reduced and no midseason change to ensure that players are selected more carefully.

“Foreign players are good for the League if they are of quality, raise the level competitiveness in the League, if they are can impart their knowledge and professionalism to the locals and attract the fans to fill the stadium,” said Rajagobal.

Rajagobal also suggested to cut cost, consideration should be given to hiring Asian players are foreign players.

The foreign players’ policy has changed many time since 2009. In 2009 foreign players were banned but the ruling changed in 2012 when two foreigners were allowed. Then in 2013 – three foreigners were allowed. In 2014 - 4 foreign players and only 3 can be on the field at a time.  And for this season - 4 foreign players including 1 Asian quota.

When the decision to ban was taken it was the wise decision of then the FAM deputy president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, the current King and Sultan of Pahang, who spearheaded the decision despite calls from State FAs to continue to have foreign players.

The King then chairing the executive committee meeting had said: "We will conduct a holistic study. Time is not the essence. Our priority is to put our house in order before making changes.

"We don't want to make hasty decisions. Several in-house issues need to be solved first. We want our teams to comply with all conditions before we lift the ban on foreign players.

"Right now, some teams have not complied with EPF requirements and other conditions. Yes, we want to raise the standard of our local league but we want to do it constructively," he was quoted in the New Straits Times.

He is also added that the new format will be constructed in accordance with national team's international assignments so as to enable the national team to train more regularly before competitions.
The national team started to do well and even went to win the Suzuki Cup in 2010.

We need officials who place emphasis on the national team and are not selfish just thinking of their own teams in their State.

But has much changed since then?

Foreign players in Malaysian football was already in place from the Semi-Pro days in 1989. These are the breakdowns then of the number that played: 1989 (34); 1990 (45); 1991 (45); 1992 (48); 1993 (48); 1994 (48);
1995 (47); 1996 (32); 1997 (55) and 1998 (51).

But then, the cost of hiring foreign players was way much less. These days’ teams spend anything between RM1 million to RM 20 million or more per annum on foreign players. The sum for some teams can be more, as their declared amount and paid amount differs.

“Problem with brainstorming sessions held in the past on many technical issues were attended by secretaries or principal bearers of State FAs or club. Missing were the technical officials like development or technical directors or coaches,” said former international Bhawandi Hiral a member of the 1972 Munich Olympics team.

“A majority want the presence of foreign players for all sorts of reasons, ranging from bringing back the crowd to the stands, make the league more entertaining, add quality to the league, to be able to compete on equal footing in the AFC Cup, most countries have foreign players and the list goes on.

“But nobody talks about improving the standard or exposing Malaysian players and building the national team except for a few teams who do about managing their team professionally. JDT definitely heads the list as the best managed team with teams like Pahang, Kedah, Selangor and Perak all falling in line.”

There is much more to be done to put Malaysian football on the right path and the FA of Malaysia alone cannot do it. The stakeholders have to play a major role.