The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) and the Youth and Sports Ministry recently reached out to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) requesting an analysis of the country’s elite grassroots programmes – the National Football Development Programme (NFDP) and Mokhtar Dahari Academy (AMD).
“We did an analysis and submitted the report to FAM and the (youth and sports) minister. The gist of our report … football development is the role of the national association and not the government.
“This is not a secret. This is happening throughout the world,” said AFC general secretary Datuk Seri Windsor John (main image), on the latest episode of the podcast show, Julang.
“Football development is the responsibility of football associations because they have the responsibility to develop football in their country.
“The role of the government and other stakeholders is to assist. The government can assist by developing facilities, funding, and whatever help the association needs.
“But to manage the programme, to select the coaches … Those are the responsibilities of the national body, not the government or private sector.”
The NFDP was launched in 2011, during Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek’s time as youth and sports minister. His then deputy, Datuk Seri Razali Ibrahim, was tasked to oversee the programme, which saw the involvement of the ministry and several other parties, namely the National Sports Council and FAM.
The AMD, an extension of the NFDP, was launched in 2014. Both initiatives were said to be the Malaysian government’s answer to creating competitive players to represent the country.
However, in recent times, the country has called up heritage players and allowed naturalised footballers to represent the national team.
This has led to questions about the effectiveness of the elite grassroots initiatives and the substantial funding they have received, and concerns about the broader football ecosystem.
John said Malaysia ticked all the right boxes in its football ecosystem.
“Support from government, tick. Sponsors, tick. Fans, tick. Facilities, tick. Popularity of the game – number one (in Malaysia), tick. So, you (Malaysia) tick all the boxes. Many countries don’t.
“You take the Philippines, for example. Football is not the No. 1 (sport). Japan, football is not No. 1 (sport), baseball is the No. 1 sport. If Malaysia is ticking all the boxes, what’s wrong (with Malaysian football)?”
He said AFC’s report suggested a clear vision.
“We don’t see that vision. Johor Darul Ta’zim’s (JDT) vision is very clear. They want to be the champions of the Asian Champions League. They are spending money, and doing what they can (to achieve the target),” said John.
“What is the vision? What is the plan to achieve it? Who will execute it, and are all stakeholders buying into the same plan?”
The Youth and Sports Ministry has introduced the National Sports Vision 2030, although its progress remains unclear, and its website is currently offline. FAM launched its F:30 football plan in 2018 with the ultimate goal of creating a “worldclass national team” by 2030.
Watch the full interview below:
