FMT
The influx of foreign and naturalised players in the
M-League is seriously threatening to ruin Malaysian football and fan support.
Some 600 foreign players from 90 countries have
graced stadiums nationwide since 1989 when semi-professional football was
introduced.
They include players from minnows in world football
such as Afghanistan, Mauritania, Macedonia, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Fiji.
From 2014 to this year, 25 players have been naturalised, eight of whom had no
stints with either Harimau Malaya or junior national teams.
The national team has two naturalised players – with
no ties to Malaysia – in Gambia’s Mohamadou Sumareh and Kosovo’s Liridon
Krasniqi.
The heritage players in the team are Brendan Gan,
Matthew Davies, both from Australia, La’Vere Corbin-Ong (England) and Dominic
Tan from Singapore.
Has the flow of foreign players done more good than
harm for Malaysian football? Efforts to boost fan turnout with the presence of
foreigners in the M-League has had limited success.
Malaysia has become a dumping ground for aging and half-baked players and is
cruelly referred to by many as a “retirement home”.
Some of the players, who earned high salaries, were
affected by social problems as football suffered and agents continued to make
good money.
The policies pertaining to foreign players have
changed numerous times since the inception of the M-League. In 2009, FAM made a
bold move to ban foreigners from playing in the league until 2011. They were
allowed back the next season.
It used to be two foreigners per team, but now each
team in the Super and Premier leagues is allowed five foreign players with a
mandatory two players from Asia or Asean.
When FAM decided to ban foreigners, then deputy
president Khairy Jamaluddin said the national body’s 16 affiliates had
unanimously agreed that the move would raise the standard of football.
The first ban was in 1999 during the Asian financial
crisis. It was revoked three years later. Khairy felt some import players
neither had quality nor helped improve the standard of the league.
This week, Malaysian football was stunned when FAM
deputy president Yusoff Mahadi invited fans to scout for heritage players
playing abroad.
Yusoff, who is also FAM’s naturalisation programme
committee chairman, in welcoming foreigners to play for Malaysia, said: “We
don’t have enough manpower to scout (the world for players with Malaysian
heritage). Those who have information can help us.”
Seriously, Yusoff?
The national team manager has also made statements
like “How long has Malaysia to wait for local players to rise to the occasion?”
He had opined that naturalised players would spur local players to work harder,
raise their game and fight for their slots in the national team.
Football Coaches Association of Malaysia president B
Sathianathan thinks otherwise. He said: “The move to encourage naturalised
players to make the national team will demotivate local players.”
While FAM is taking a cautious stand on the matter,
state teams and clubs are gleefully hiring foreign players. How can Malaysian
football not head for disaster when wrong messages are launched?
The chances of talented youngsters giving up
football are high. Young boys waiting to be discovered in remote places will be
disappointed. Instead of combing the length and breadth of Malaysia for raw
talent, it is sad that we have to resort to foreigners.
Raw talent does not bring instant results, but isn’t
it better to have a long-term plan than to opt for shortcuts?
One wonders if all the money spent on foreigners over
the years could have been better spent in the development of Malaysian football
BLOG VERSION
Tony
Mariadass
THE
influx of foreign players into the M-League, not to mention the naturalisation
of some born outside the country, is seriously threatening Malaysia’s
football image and Harimau Malaya, the national team, losing its stripes.
Consider this – 600 foreign players from 90 countries have graced
our stadiums nationwide since 1989 when Semi-Professional football was
introduced before it earned professional league status in 2004 (safe for
1999-2001 and 2009–2011, when there was a foreign players banned).
From 2014 to 2020, 25 players have been naturalised of which eight
had no stints with national or junior national teams.
The national
team has two naturalised players (with no ties to Malaysia) in Gambia's
Mohamadou Sumareh and Kosovo's Liridon Krasniqi.
The heritage
players in the team are Brendan Gan, Matthew Davies (both from Australia),
England's La'Vere Corbin-Ong and Singapore's Dominic Tan.
Following is the
breakdown of the countries the foreign players have come from based on the confederations: Asia (Asian Football
Confederation - AFC) – 27 countries – 221 players; Africa (Confederation
of African Football -CAF) – 24 countries – 122 players; Europe (Union of European Football Associations - UEFA – 26 countries – 58 players; North America, Central America & Caribbean - CONCACAF)– 5 countries – 12 players; South
America (South American Football
Confederation - CONMEBOL) – 6 countries – 140
players and Oceania Football Confederation– 2 countries – 5 players
The
FA of Malaysia has outlined that the criterion for the intake would be based
on:
·
Short term – involving players of mixed parentage whether they
(the players), their parents or grandparents were born in Malaysia (heritage
player - one who has ancestral connections to the country he wishes to
play for).
·
Medium term – involving foreign
players aged 18 and above who have played in the MFL for one or two seasons and
are convinced to stay for a minimum of five seasons.
Now
the question to be asked is, has the influx of foreign players done more harm
than good for Malaysian football.
While there
will be two schools of thought on this matter, passionate Malaysian football
fans, players and officials will agree that it has done more harm.
The initial
goal to allow foreign players (to follow the trend of ‘borderless football’
world where players can move freely) to boost the M-League and make it more
attractive for the fans thus attracting bigger crowds has met with limited
success. Instead, it has brought about more ills than gains.
Malaysia
eventually became a dumping ground for aging players and was cruelly referred
to as a ‘retirement home’, and inevitably only got half-baked players who
hardly attracted the crowds. Social problems accompanied some of them who
earned inflated wages but failed to contribute to the betterment of football in
Malaysia.
More importantly,
the huge sums of money that leaves the country must surely be a strain on our
economy, not to mention the foreign players' agents who are milking Malaysian
football.
The policies
pertaining to foreign players has changed numerous times since the league's
inception. In 2009, FAM made a bold move to change the foreign players’
policy and banned foreigners from playing in the league until 2011.
They were only allowed back into the league from the 2012 season.
From
an initial two foreign players per team, it has evolved over years and
currently, each team in the Super League and Premier League are
allowed five foreign players, but two must be from Asia or Asean.
When
in 2009 FAM decided to ban foreigners, then deputy president Khairy
Jamaluddin, in announcing the new ruling, said it had received unanimous
support from the FAM's 16 affiliates and that the decree was indefinite.
He
had said: “It may be seen as a backtrack measure but we have to bear in mind
that this is the only way to raise our football standard."
It
was the second time in a decade that foreign players had been banned from the
Malaysian league. The first ban in 1999 was a result of the Asian financial
crisis. It was revoked three years later.
Khairy
had felt that the return of import players has not led to an improvement in the
quality of the league and said "some of them did not have any
quality."
Currrent deputy
president of FAM Yusoff Mahadi, who is also the naturalisation
programme committee chairman, national team manager and deputy president of
Melaka United Soccer Association (MUSC), said the national body will welcome
any information given by fans who know of "heritage" players
playing abroad.
"We
welcome those who want to come and play for Malaysia. But we don't have enough
manpower to scout (the world for players with Malaysian heritage). Those who
have information can help us," Yusoff was reported to have said in a
daily.
He has also made
statements like “how long Malaysia has to wait for local players to rise to the
occasion?”
Yusoff reiterated that the presence of naturalised players will
only spur local players to work harder, raise their game and fight for their
places in the national team.
Seriously Yusof?
Football Coaches Association of Malaysia president, B. Sathianathan
said: “The move to encourage naturalised players to make the national team will
surely demotivate the local players.”
Video
gamers, who are fans, are also on the hunt for foreigner players. They
comb the databases of games like 'Football Manager' to locate foreigners who
have an ancestral links to Malaysia.
A
local gamer, Zulkifli Malik, has recommended Marcel Kalonda, who is from the
Congo, and a New Zealander Harry Edge to the Football Association of Malaysia.
FAM is taking a
firm but cautious stand when screening these foreign applicants. But at the
pace FAM, the state teams and clubs are going about with their hiring of
foreign players, Malaysian football looks like heading for disaster.
The kind of
message Yusoff is sending out to local players is worrying. This
will demoralise them and what about the many youngsters in football academies,
including the National Football Development Programme (NFDP), whose players'
sole ambition is to one-day don national colours?
It
is indeed sad that the urgency of trying to enforce the 'talent scout’ culture
for local players who are waiting to be spotted all across Malaysia, especially
in the remote areas, is gradually eroding.
Malaysia
is gifted with a mixed culture of Malays, Chinese, Indians, Sikhs, Eurasians,
while from Sabah and Sarawak, we have other ethnic groups like Kadazan Dusun,
Bajau, Murut, Melanaus, Dayak Iban, Bidayuh, Kelabit, Kenyah and Orang Ulu to
name a few, to get a variety of players with different characters and
qualities.
Instead
of combing the length and breadth of Malaysia in search of raw talent to be
polished into diamonds, it is sad that we have to resort to foreigners.
Of
course with raw talent, instant results will not come quickly, but it is better
to have a sustainable long-term plan, rather than opt for shortcuts with no
guarantee of success not to mention all the problems that come with signing
foreigners including spending huge sums of money on probably a lost cause.
Just imagine if
all the money over years paid out to foreigners was invested in development of
Malaysian football, we would have got far better results by now and a bright
future for the game assured.
Ends.
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