Football brings mileage, especially in Malaysia.
Its national team is ranked 132nd in the world, behind neighbours Thailand (100), Vietnam (116), and Indonesia (129). Malaysia has never made the cut to play in the World Cup, last qualified for the Olympics in 1980, and is still searching for the SEA Games gold medal that it last won in 2011.
Yet, football is regarded as Malaysia’s No. 1 sport, purely due to past sentiments and the euphoria it creates following the pockets of small, rare wins.
Ironically, the clubs in the local leagues, generally, struggle to fill the stadiums, while the just-concluded Pestabola Merdeka tournament was boycotted by supporters who vented their anger against the FA of Malaysia (FAM).
And despite supposedly being the nation’s beloved sport, clubs continue to struggle to raise funds, as non-payment of wages continues to hog the limelight every season.
But that has not stopped the Malaysian government from spending money on Harimau Malaya.
RM30 million allocated to football in two years
Football continues to receive the big bucks despite not having any results to show. In 2022, then prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob allocated RM10 million to FAM in the name of development.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim pledged RM5 million to football, despite the national team being booted out in the group stage of the Asian Cup tournament.
And recently, Anwar, who is also the Finance Minister, said the ministry would allocate RM10 million, and another RM5 million from the private sector, to help improve the national team’s performance.
It remains unclear if the RM10 million pledged by Ismail Sabri was given in full, or if the RM5 million pledge by Anwar was, in fact, part of the earlier RM10 million allocation made by his predecessor. In the name of transparency and accountability, such details should rightfully be made public.
If FAM had received the RM10 million in full, how was it spent?
‘Proactive’ PM or does FAM need him to babysit national team?
On Sept 19, Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh, in a Facebook posting, said Anwar ordered the Football Association of Malaysia to draw up a plan and create a key performance index to help improve the national squad’s performance. This comes following Anwar’s RM15 million pledge.
Some may view this as a proactive step taken by the prime minister, who had certainly raised eyebrows with his sudden interest in football. It comes at a time as conversations about turning the national team ‘private’ heighten.
However, this also shows that the guardian of the sport needs the prime minister to step in and tell them how to manage their greatest asset – the national team.
With many parties suddenly wanting to have a say (or perhaps a stake) in the national team, one cannot help but wonder if football will eventually be used as a tool to advance certain agendas.
Politicians have, in the past, used football and sports to win the hearts of voters, only to see it backfire.
In 2018, Barisan Nasional (BN) had promised to build a world-class stadium, if it recaptured Kelantan from Pas. The east coast state remains under Pas’ control.
The 2017 SEA Games was also engineered by the then-ruling BN government to create a feel-good factor for Malaysians, leading up to the 14th General Election in 2018. BN was handed a massive beating that saw the coalition being booted out, ending its six decades in power.
Nevertheless, some politicians seem to still be under the impression that playing ‘hero’ in sports is the quickest way to win the popularity contest. This was evident when two ministers, both from the same political party (PKR), recently tried to take on each other to head the Kuala Lumpur Football Association. Their plans fell flat after the Cabinet decided that ministers and deputy ministers should not be involved in sports associations.
Yet, the prime minister is now overseeing the national football team. Doesn’t that constitute an active involvement in sports, too?
While football continues to grab the headlines, other sports quietly bring honour to the nation.
The nation’s cue artists, often forgotten, will only be celebrated when they return with gold medals from the SEA Games. Then, there are the national archers and cyclists who often qualify for the Olympics. Malaysia’s shuttlers remain the nation’s best bet at the Summer Games. Let’s also not forget the sailors, golf, and squash stars.
Imagine how the representatives and athletes of those sports feel about the hyped-up attention football gets. Their only crime, perhaps, is the presumed lack of mass appeal, compared to football. With the changing patterns of sports viewership and attention span of today’s generation, all that could change.
What could also change is how associations get funds. It seems that they would now only need to justify their expenditure and provide KPIs after being given money, instead of before, as was the common practice.
And you have Malaysian football to thank for that!
Main image: Hannah Yeoh / Facebook
