FOR Malaysia to achieve success in football on the global stage, the country must start grooming young talents, FAM technical director Scott O’Donell said.

He stressed the importance of focusing on youth development as young players are the future of Malaysian football.

“If we want success for the senior national team, and this is no disrespect to the current national team or head coaches, we’ve got to get things right at the junior level.

“Because if we are not successful at the junior level, how can we expect to be successful at the senior level because they (juniors) are our future national team players,” the Australian told The Malaysian Insight in an interview.

O’Donell, who played for Kuala Lumpur in 1994-1995, emphasised the importance of competitive junior football tournaments, which he said could nurture talents at a young age.

O’Donell pointed to the Australian Under-17 football team’s recent victory in the Asean Football Federation (AFF) tournament.

“They spent two weeks in Italy, played two international friendlies against Switzerland and the boys on that team played at least 22 competitive games for their club before they went to Indonesia for the AFF tournament.

“In comparison, we played six (competitive) games and we played two friendly games against Terengganu and Pahang.

“It is not the players or the coaches who are at fault. The intensity, the decision making, the seriousness of friendly games are not equivalent to competitive matches.

“At a competitive level, the players respond differently as compared to friendly matches,” he said.

O’Donell also said that this culture of not developing juniors is prevalent in other Asian countries.

“It’a not just Malaysia; all of the countries I’ve worked in Asia, they don’t see the benefits of developing juniors.

“Priority always goes to the professional leagues or teams.So this is not a criticism of Malaysia but it is what is happening around the region,” he said.

Funding

O’Donell believes the lack of youth development or programmes could be due to a lack of funds.

“I think one of the challenges is funding. That’s a challenge in every country I’ve worked in.

“There are limited funds there. So, it’ll be great if we can get some sponsors on board purely to support the youth leagues.

“It’ll be great if we can get sponsors for the Belia Cup, the President Cup, the Under-15 and Under-16 leagues that we are now looking at forming, the Puteri League and others.

“The clubs have a limited budget, they have to allocate according to what they can afford. It is a challenge all over,” he said.

Based on data from the Youth and Sports Ministry, South Korea (population 51.7 million), which is ranked 23rd in the world by FIFA, spends RM512.3 million on developing its football association, national squad and new talents.

Jordan (population 11.3 million, FIFA ranking 87) spends RM122.2 million, while Bahrain (population 1.4 million, FIFA ranking 86) spends 122.2 million.

In contrast, Malaysia (population 33.4 million, FIFA ranking 130) spends only RM47 million.

Despite the shortcomings, O’Donell said that the government is putting in their best effort to raise the level of the youth football teams.

“What the sports ministry is doing with the National Football Development Programme and Mokhtar Dahari Academy is unbelievable.

“They have been supportive of the Under-19 team in preparation for the SEA Games for 2027.

“The National Football Development Programme and Mokhtar Dahari Academy are part of our football ecosystem.”

Following Malaysia’s recent draw with giants South Korea in the Asian Cups finals in Qatar, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that the government would set aside RM5 million for the FAM.

Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh later said that the grant would be used for the development of football. – July 15, 2024.