The first ever Nations Cup will be launched by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and MP & Silva and is scheduled to take place from the 3rd to the 5th of June.
The first edition of the tournament will be held at the Hang Jebat Stadium in Malacca and will feature Under-21 teams, which will witness Malaysia as the inaugural host of the tournament and the participants include AFF Suzuki Cup champions Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam.
Frank Bernhardt’s Project 2017 SEA Games squad will represent Malaysia in the tournament.
“The Nations Cup will act as a challenge to the national team as they will face tough opponents such as Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. This tournament will serve the national team’s plans in preparing them for the upcoming SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur next year,” FAM secretary general Datuk Hamidin Haji Mohd Adin said as quoted by Berita Harian.
MP & Silva, a sports agency, is organizing the Nations Cup for the main purpose of producing a quality football tournament for Asian countries on an annual basis. The tournament will complement the international football calendar which will lead up to the 2017 SEA Games.
“The Nations Cup is more than just a regional football tournament. We view this as MP & Silva’s long-term investment in the region to cultivate the spirit of competitive football from a young age,” MP & Silva managing director Beatrice Lee said as quoted by TODAY.
WHAT DO WE THINK?
While it’s encouraging to know that tournaments like Nations Cup will inevitably provide the platform for plenty of U23 players to equip themselves with tournament experience, one can’t help but wonder the major intention behind this tournament? Rumours have suggested that this is MP & Silva’s way of recovering lossess from the major broadcasting deal they signed with FAM last year. On the other hand, one must also wonder if this is the sort of games our U23 side should be getting themselves involved in, instead of competing in FIFA-sanctioned U-23 friendlies.
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