The issue regarding Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) is expected to become worse, with the Ministry of Youth and Sports set to intefere in the matter.
Ex-national team head coach B. Sathianathan expressed his concern on the matter, claiming that Youth and Sports minister Khairy Jamauddin’s threats towards FAM – though based on good intentions – will end up ruining FAM as a whole.
He used Indonesia as an example, pointing out that government inteference destroyed Indonesian football’s ability to grow and forced them to rebuild from ground zero.
“I have known my former boss (Khairy) for quite a while, when I was the national team coach in 2008. I know he adores football, especially our national team, but his public statement (on suspending FAM) puts his position in jeopardy, besides risking any further actions from FIFA.”
“Take a look at Indonesia. They had to rebuild the sport, which took immense amount of time.”
“Put an end to all this intentions, and instead invite FAM for discussions on ways to improve the quality of football in the country,” he added, as quoted by Arena Metro.
According to Khairy’s statement, FAM could face suspension from the Sports Commissioner’s Office, if they fail to provide adequate explanation on the incident that took place during the Malaysia-Saudi Arabia match last Tuesday, where crowd trouble involving fans occurred.
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