17 Feb FAM needs drastic action to ensure change

THE Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) technical committee meets tomorrow to decide on vital matters regarding the state of football in Malaysia. Topping the agenda, the technical committee, which is chaired by FAM deputy president Datuk Redzuan Sheikh Ahmad, must identify a coach for the Under-23 squad.

The grapevine has it that K. Rajagopal, who will be in charge of Malaysia’s campaign in Laos, has been tipped for the post. But rumours have it that Rajagopal, presently the coach of the Under-19 squad better known as the Young Tigers, prefers to remain at his present position. The team presently head the Premier League table. Should Rajagopal move up the ranks and take over coaching of the Under-23 squad on a permanent basis, Ong Kim Swee, who presently is in charge of the Under-18 squad, will coach the Young Tigers.

The technical committee is also expected to make its recommendations to the national team management committee, which is chaired by Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah, on various other appointments. FAM has yet to name a candidate for the vital youth director’s post. This is an area that has been lacking in many aspects which has resulted in poor development at the grassroots level.

A leading candidate for the post is former national player and current Bayern Munich Under-17 coach Lim Teong Kim, who recently submitted a plan on the structure of youth development. Whether or not FAM can afford to hire Teong Kim is a question only the finance committee, chaired by the president, can answer. The committee will also thrash out the matter regarding the technical structure that has been sorely lacking and serious work needs to be done in that particular department. Whatever the outcome of tomorrow’s meeting, it will have a huge bearing on how the latest merger involving FAM, the Sports Ministry and Education Ministry, will progress.