FAM officials provide conflicting response.

On one corner we have FA of Malaysia (FAM) sec-gen Datuk Azzuddin Ahmad and then there's FAM competitions committee chairman Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin.

While Azzuddin (pic above) was caught off guard when asked if Malaysia's representation in the 2013 AFC Cup was affected by the inclusion of LionsXII in the M-League - that of course is should they win either the Super League or FA Cup.

Azzuddin admitted that FAM had not thought the matter thoroughly but believes that Asian Football Confederation (AFC) would still consider an appeal if the unlikely scenario were to happen.

Never mind, now that the matter has been highlighted, we will write to AFC to clarify this," he said.

pics courtesy of The Malay Mail

However, Hamidin insist the matter was a no issue and that FAM have already sorted this out. For the record, Hamidin also sits at the AFC competitions committee.

Confusing indeed. Maybe its best if officials, not just in FAM, could communicate. :)

Anyway, Mailsports has the full story.

Malaysia's representation in 2013 AFC Cup affected?

Malaysia may lose a spot in the AFC Cup - that's if LionXII win the Super League or FA Cup.

Malaysia are awarded two spots. One automatic entry (Super League champions) and one play-off entry (FA Cup winner)

Here's the correspondence with an Asian Football Confederation  (AFC) spokesman :-

1. How many slots are located to Malaysia for the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup. Pls eloborate on the qualifications.

- No AFC Champions League slots are allocated for Malaysia.
- In case of AFC Cup, based on our technical standard ranking, one direct slot and one playoff slot were allocated for Malaysia.
- However, from the ACL playoff stage (EAST), two losing teams (from ACL playoff Round 2) are supposed to join the AFC Cup preliminary (Group) stage, but this time there is only one team who can join the AFC Cup after the club loses their match in ACL playoff. Therefore, the extra one slot of AFC Cup went to AFC Cup playoff teams, which means that Terengganu (Malaysia) and Ayeyawady United (Myanmar) do not have to play their AFC Cup playoff match. They got a direct entry to the AFC Cup Group Stage.

2. I'm under the impression that the winner of the Malaysian Super League and FA Cup will qualify for the the AFC Cup. Singapore's young Lions and Harimau Muda B (a FA of Malaysia team and not a football club) are also participating. What happens if the following happens:

a. If either teams win the Super League. Since they can't represent Malaysia in the AFC Champions League or Cup. Will the slot be given to the second placed teams?
b. If either teams win the FA Cup, will the runner's up be able to play in the AFC competition instead?

- If they win, they can't participate in AFC club competitions and no replacement is allowed at the moment.

C. If the runners-up of the FA Cup can take the slot, what happens if the runners up is ineligible as well? Can the the runners up of the Super League play instead?

- Basically the same rule applies. No replacement.

You can refer to Article 26 (Eligible Clubs) of the AFC Cup 2012 Competition Regulations attached herewith.

If the eligibility of club is not one of the cases stipulated in the regulations, we do not accept the club's entry and its participation is subject to the final approval of the AFC Competitions Committee. 

Read the full story in today's Mailsport. Also look out for FAM's response in tomorrow's Malay Mail.

Parents are the hindrance.

The future of our football scene should be a responsibility over everyone, not just the FA of Malaysia (FAM)

So is the message of FAM vice president Datuk Subahan Kamal

Well has FAM realised that they cannot do much anymore? - True we are Kings of Southeast Asia, in terms of competitions at least but where have we gone since there?

The system is still in a mess. FAM still can't get themselves out of the papers for all the bad reasons.

Well maybe FAM should clean up before expecting parents to Encourage their kids.

Click on the link and make up your own conclusions.

Finally a proper format..... but

FA of Malaysia has released the format of the M-league for the 2013 - 2016. In short teams will not be left wondering whether they are relegated.

All seems good except one thing....see for yourself.

 M-League 2013-2016

- Super League and Premier League will comprise of 12 teams each.

- Super League : top nine teams, LionsXII, champion of Premier League while final spot will be decided in a play off between the Premier League runners-up and the remaining Super League teams.

At the expense of a local team, LionsXII cannot be relegated. So if they play badly and finish bottom, they will still have a spot in the Super League.

Of course perhaps our Harimau Muda A is getting the same treatment in the S-League but this is just not right. Teams have to play in the respective leagues on merit not some arrangement made between two FAs.

Many might disagree with me but well that should be the nature of a league.

Of course it is unlikely they'll finish bottom - even our Harimau Muda A finished fifth last season, that of course considering LionsXII is equallly strong.

Anyway format and arrangements have already been done. For the sake of being professional, let's all hope FAM does not move the goal post at some point of the season.

Check out Foul! for all the decisions made by the FAM Competitions Committee yesterday.

No hope for Malaysian football

It seems Malaysia can dream about being a footballing nation. The standards of football here will not improve too.

Why? - simple, we lack the infrastructure.

Says who? - Lim Teong Kim (pic)

Some may ask who is this man?

He is arguably Malaysia's most accomplished man in football. Having played for Malacca, Selangor and KL in the M-League, he also enjoy a year stint at Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin. Today he is the assistant coach for Bayern Munich U-19.

Having been there and done that - who can better speak of the standards here than Teong Kim.

Understandably he is "sick and tired speaking of Malaysian football".

All this because "people here ask for advice but don't take whatever is given seriously". Sigh.

Teong Kim is every ready to lend a helping hand to our football scene but "no one seems to want it seriously"

Read what Teong Kim had to say in the Q&A session I had with him on Sunday where he laments lack of infrastructure - even the condition of the field at Victoria Institution was not spared.

Meanwhile it's interesting to note how times have changed.

Three decades ago, several Japan FA officials made a trip to Malaysia to learn more about our semi-pro league. 

Last weekend, three officials from FAM left for Japan to look at their professional league. 

Such is the irony.

Haresh Deol has the story on this here. Btw the way I love Karate Kid!

National Football Awards - a small affair.

pic taken using BlackBerry

There were more empty seats than people at Holiday Inn, Glenmarie yesterday. Why?

There were more media personnel than players and club/state officials put together.

I'm beginning to think if the event was for 100plus or the players. Only four of the five award winning players turned up. Same was the case for last year's awards at Hilton.

Even K. Rajagopal and Ong Kim Swee were not around.

FAM deputy president is understandably disappointed with this.

Read The Malay Mail for more on the shambolic awards and what Tan Sri Annuar Musa had to say.

Maybe for next year's awards it should 

1.  be Held at night

2. in a more accessible venue

3. Get all the nominees to attend.

4. Each state FA/clubs to send representatives

Re-branding is definitely needed but will those involved willing to do so?

Also we cannot keep re-branding but nothing really changes.

Haresh Deol has his views here while NST carried it here

In the shadows

It seems that after Malaysia won the SEA Games football final - everything else during the Games didn't matter

No one cared about the other gold medals won. Why? The football medal was the mother of all gold medals.

While many 'worship' the team, it must be noted that the 11 men on the field was merely another contributor to Malaysia's gold medal tally. Btw anyone took interest in medals tally after 'that' gold medal? Nope! I for one didn't hear anyone talk about it.

 Here's the medal tally 

I feel for the other 58 medals contributor. Suddenly their achievement didn't matter to most outside their respective sports. 

One athlete contacted me asking if it was true the footballers were getting RM30,000 each for their effort, while the rest are only getting RM 10,000.

Yes, they are getting RM30,000 for each member of the team. However, it is from the FA of Malaysia itself and not the Government or National Sport Council (NSC). I hope the players don't get spoilt though.

I long for the day Malaysian football reach greater heights. The SEA Games to me is just a stepping stone - not goal itself. Being best in the region should be nothing great - considering we have more resources than most countries in South East Asia. 

Because our football has been in the dumps before 2009, this SEA Games is a big achievement. 

Because so the plight of our 4x400m relay team is quickly forgotten. I hope sincerely hope the culprits for their medal bungle are made known.

Pic taken from NST

Food for thought : Why is that winning the football gold medal in Olympics seen as just another gold medal and not much hype? but for the SEA Games it is everything.