The Harimau Muda concept is set to be dissolved after Football Association of Malaysia confirmed that it will be ending the 7 year-old program.
This comes after the sixth meeting of FAM’s Executive Committee, which was held at the Royale Chulan Hotel earlier today, where the decision was eventually announced. However, the 2017 SEA Games squad will be retained until the end of the games.
‘Harimau Muda’ was the brainchild of Khairy Jamaluddin, who was the Vice-President of FAM in 2007 and it was mainly created to produce a stronger group of youth players by keeping them together, and allowing them to compete in various leagues across the globe.
https://twitter.com/youngtigersc/status/669186025768402944
While it did bring temporary success in the form of the SEA Games Gold Medal in 2011, the overall efficacy of the program has been questioned on countless occassions, particularly by state teams who are forced to let their talents go.
With the program coming to an end, all existing Harimau Muda players are likely to return to their state teams – which will subsequently boost the pool of players available to every team.
Meanwhile, FAM also confirmed that LionsXII will no longer be competing in the Malaysian Super League next season, bringing the curtain down on their three-year partnership with the Football Association of Singapore.
Lions XII takkan beraksi dalam Liga Super Malaysia tahun hadapan. #KamiTeamMalaysia
— Team Malaysia (@TeamMsia) November 24, 2015
The Singapore-based side are currently competing in the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Cup and their immediate future is uncertain – though rumours suggests that the team could be rebranded to compete in the ASEAN Super League.
Meanwhile, a play-off match will be held between T-Team and ATM and the winner of that match will be handed the MSL slot which will be vacated by the departure of LionsXII.
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