The state of Malaysian football

The news that our National U-23 football team get walloped by the thais last two weeks by 7-0 was not a surprise to me. After more than a decade of under-achievements and disappointments, we are in a quagmire of footballing limbo.

I have seen as a fan and Malaysian citizen that no matter how many millions we poured to raise the standard of football, we will be no better even in 20 years. Why??

First, the FAM is being filled by the same old heads that has been in control for more than 20 years. Let’s be professional about this. If a CEO of a listed company failed to bring about the necessary level of profits and results, he will be probably be booted out during the AGM or ousted by a vote of no confidence.

FAM is being helm by the Sultan of Pahang by more than 25 years. The vice president is also helm by his son. The rest of the crew are made from state politicians, failed politicians and has beens.

Personally, I believe that is the problem. Having such a huge figure such as a sultan as the President of FAM blunted any level of criticisms because it will be against the law!! Admit it, nobody gonna say to the Sultan of Pahang…” Tuanku, I disagree with your ideas because I feel it is outdated1”. Silap-silap kena buang daerah..malah boleh kena tangkap ISA. Especially in a society that worshipped Hang Tuah as the Uber Malay hero eventhough in modern management terms, Hang Tuah can be classified as a sell-out or licker of the bosses boot!

Second, there are too much money in FAM. Itulah sebab ramai gila nak jadik manager state football eventhough he hardly know shit about the recent rules of offside, penalty taking or how many substitutes allowed for AFC Cup?? The coach imported from all corners of the world are paid handsomely to create miracles, or so they said especially when the Manager usually helm by the some Datuk is paid almost double compared to the coach! So, apa kerja manager tersebut apabila tiap2 tahun ade krisis gaji tidak dibayar oleh State football, EPF tidak dilangsaikan dan sebagainya. Yang peliknya, setiap kali kes ini berlaku, FAM akan step in…dan bayar utk state. Mana pergi accountability and responsibility mereka ini apabila FAM yang diberikan wang daripada kerajaan persekutuan utk memajukan bolasepak negara jadik Bank Negara mini? The money given by the Federal Govt. is your tax payers money..my friend! Your blood, sweat and tears money!!!

In fact, let’s compared to other sports bodies that created World Champions like Bowling and Squash, they faced no problems whatsoever except for some internal squabbles because there are less money in it!! Winning a major tournament for bowling will only rake in RM 10,000.00 whilst winning FA Cup will net almost RM 250,000.00. Any dumb ass will know what to choose but these players playing Bowling or squash is the real national hero because they follows their passion rather than the amount of money!

Third, the infrastructure is no longer available for the development of grass root level. Most of the schools nowadays, no longer have a full blown football field or even have a school football team. As more and more kids going to school, fields has give way to computer labs, additional school blocks etc. In fact, more parents actually discourage their kids to be active in sports because there is no FUTURE in it!

“ Buat apa main bola…bukan boleh dapat kerja!”- Hmm…berbeza dgn Michael Owen when he was signed to play for Liverpool at the age of 7, Wayne Rooney at 9 and Robbie Fowler at 6 years old. Their parents believe that there is future in football…mind you, Robbie Fowler owns more than 20 million pounds in assets!

Fourth, the lack of transparency in funds used by FAM. Why these figures are not shown to the public is an amazement to me especially when it is of the most biggest sports association in Malaysia. FAM spends more money than Perlis! Why? Perhaps there are items like project management(karaoke with GROs) or trips to Bangkok in their accounts that they are afraid to reveal? If we the public cannot question why our tax payers money is being used for the Sultanate of Pahang expenditure, we are either in vegetative state or in a coma. Mind you, Sultan Pahang salary and his family allowances are also being paid by us…via our tax money as well.

Hmm…there are other factors, I hope you can enlighten me even more because I have run out of super latives!