Football Association of Malaysia’s President Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah believes that the only way for Malaysian football to progress and elevate itself is none other than youth development.
There has been plenty of debates on the condition of football in Malaysia, which to a certain extent, has been relatively stagnant since the Suzuki Cup triumph in 2010.
There have been active calls for naturalization of foreign footballers currently plying their trade within the country, but while Tengku Abdullah is open to a discussion on that matter, he was quick to reiterate that the only permanent solution to the matter was youth development.
“Alhamdullilah, if the NFDP program works out, it would be fantastic. But irrespective of that, we’ve got to increase the number of youth development programs – be it small scale or large scale.
“I’ve already said that for us to qualify for the Asian Cup in 2019 and 2013, players have got to have the hunger and they need to be mentally strong. It’s not only about the Super League, Premier League or even the SEA Games, their desire needs to focus on bigger things.
“If we want to look at it [naturalization], the discussion needs to start now and there needs to be a tangible end-goal. It can’t be implemented in the blink of an eye.”
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