Malaysian expert makes surprising statement when home team withdraws from tournament

(Dan Tri) - Former Vice President of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) Datuk Zainol Fadzi Paharudin criticized the home team for withdrawing from the tournament. His reaction was in contrast to FAM officials as well as coach Peter Cklamovski.

The decision by the Malaysian national team to withdraw from the Central Asian Football Confederation (CAFA) Cup due to the inability to call up naturalized players has drawn mixed reactions. FAM officials as well as coach Peter Cklamovski have voiced their support for the decision.

Datuk Zainol Fadzi Paharudin has criticized FAM for denying the Malaysian team the opportunity to compete at the highest level (Photo: Sinarharian).

According to Mr. Peter Cklamovski, the Malaysian team will not participate in the tournament if they do not have the best preparation and strength. This could cause the "Tigers" to not have good results and drop in the FIFA rankings.

However, former FAM Vice President Datuk Zainol Fadzi Paharudin criticized the home team. He said: “I don’t know what FAM really wants. For a long time, we have always dreamed of having the opportunity to face world- class teams. Now that the opportunity has appeared, why withdraw?

This is a golden opportunity for local players and some naturalized Malaysian players to compete with big teams, especially when we are lacking competitive matches. Our refusal to participate in the CAFA Cup is no different from depriving ourselves of the opportunity to compete at the highest level.

We all understand that it is not easy to get the opportunity to compete with strong teams in the region. Once we have the opportunity, we should seize it and make the most of it."

FAM has no long-term plans but only focuses on the short term (Photo: VFF).

In addition, he also frankly stated that FAM needs to have a clear and consistent strategy in developing the national team. Withdrawing from the CAFA Cup only shows that FAM lacks a long-term plan, but only focuses on the short term.

He added: “FAM needs to be steadfast in its development direction and should not let inconsistent decisions affect the long-term goals of national football. Every action must come from the interests of the national team.”

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/chuyen-gia-malaysia-tuyen-bo-bat-ngo-khi-doi-nha-bo-giai-20250719182522734.htm