Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu delivers a message to athletes and coaches at the National Sports Council in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur January 26, 2022. — Picture by Firdaus Latif
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 22 — Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu has called for a post-mortem into Malaysia’s embarrassing losses to Laos in the AFF Under-23 championship in Cambodia.
He said the responsible parties like the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) should get to the root of the problem as Laos used to be the whipping boys of football in South-east Asia.
“I think all quarters involved in football need to seek ways and work hard to restore football glory in the country,” he told a press conference after a monthly gathering of the ministry at the National Sports Institute (NSI) here today.
The Malaysian squad under Brad Maloney were eliminated from the championship after losing twice to Laos in Group B, 2-1 on Friday and 2-0 last night.
The tournament format was changed after two other teams in the group — defending champions Indonesia and Myanmar — withdrew at the last minute due to the Covid-19 pandemic, forcing Malaysia to play Laos twice, with only one team qualifying for the semi-finals.
Ahmad Faizal urged all parties including players and fans to view the matter holistically in a bid to revive Malaysian football.
“It would be meaningless to simply change coaches, the management or FAM president if the whole ecosystem of the sport is not rectified. To correct the situation, start with ourselves; fans should approach the matter in a helpful rather than confrontational or damaging manner,” he added.
Based on the latest senior team world rankings updated by Fifa on Feb 10, Malaysia are ranked 154th in the world while Laos are 33 rungs lower at 187th.
On another matter, Ahmad Faizal hoped that Malaysia would keep up the momentum of their good performances at the recent Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC).
“I can see that in badminton, mental strength is very important. To ensure that our players are always at their best mentally, matters concerning issues outside of the sport should not be sensationalised.
“All quarters including the Badminton Association of Malaysia and supporters should cooperate. We have a good team capable of challenging the best in the world in future tournaments,” he said.
At BATC, the national men’s team beat defending champions Indonesia 3-0 in the final to lift the trophy for the first time while the women’s squad lost 0-3 to South Korea in the semi-finals.
The achievements earned the Malaysian teams tickets to the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup finals in Bangkok, Thailand in May. — Bernama