FAM's Junior Development Programmes NOt Effective - Khairy

7 Jun, 2015

SERDANG, June 7 (Bernama) -- Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin today said the junior development programme adopted by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) was not effective.

Khairy who had on Saturday called the FAM to disband the Harimau Muda squad and allow players to play for their own states or clubs, said programmes implemented by the FAM for producing back up players need to be reviewed to achieve the intended target.

"They (FAM) need to conduct a post-mortem quickly and not just look at the coach or the performance of the players or the Harimau Muda squad. But instead look at the system used for the development of junior players," he told reporters after attending the 'Art of Speed' programme at Taman Ekspo Pertanian Malaysia (MAEPS), here Sunday.

He said the poor performance of the National Under-23 squad at the Singapore SEA Games football competition, was an example of weaknesses in the FAM's development system.

Khairy said he was also worried that weaknesses in FAM's system could also jeopardize players under the National Football Development Programme (NFDP) once they are handed over to the FAM.

"If today we hand over players under the NFDP to the FAM, I am worried that they might not be able to achieve the full potential. The FAM had thus far neglected development.

"When I was the FAM Deputy President, I initiated the Harimau Muda programme but it was meant as a short term programme," he said.

He said the support and cooperation of all clubs and state associations was necessary to achieve positive results in the national football development.

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