Take Heed Of Harimau Malaya Ranking Drop, Strengthen Local Football - Minister

KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 (Bernama) -- The Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) has urged all parties to take lessons from the sharp drop in Harimau Malaya’s ranking announced by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) yesterday.

Minister Dr Mohammed Taufiq Johari said appropriate steps must be taken, including strengthening local football, to prevent the situation from recurring in the future.

“Football development, especially at the grassroots level, must continue, and I urge all Malaysians to keep supporting the sport.

“At the ministry level, we maintain our stance of not interfering in the management of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM). Through the National Sports Council (MSN), KBS will continue to prioritise efforts to strengthen and develop local football talent via the National Football Development Programme (NFDP), together with FAM as a strategic partner,” he said in a statement today.

Based on the latest FIFA rankings, the national men’s football squad dropped 14 places, from 121st to 135th, with a total of 1,095.90 points.

Dr Mohammed Taufiq said KBS will also continue to hold regular engagement sessions with FAM to obtain feedback on their strategies to prevent further drops in the rankings.

Despite the disappointment felt by Malaysians, especially local football fans, he hopes all parties will give FAM the space, with assistance from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), to identify and implement the necessary internal reforms, as well as to hold a congress to elect a new leadership line-up.

The drop in Harimau Malaya’s ranking can be considered among the worst since 2006, when the team slipped 19 places from 127th to 146th.

The significant drop was due to heavy sanctions imposed by FIFA following a document falsification issue involving seven ineligible heritage players, namely Facundo Garces, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Gabriel Palmero, Jon Irazabal and Hector Hevel.

In December last year, FIFA annulled the results of three friendly matches against Cape Verde, Singapore and Palestine, awarding 3-0 wins to the opposing teams.

The situation worsened when the AFC took similar action on two Group F matches of the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers against Vietnam and Nepal, in which the players were also fielded.

AFC’s decision to hand Malaysia 3-0 forfeits in those matches not only cost the national team valuable ranking points, but also confirmed Harimau Malaya’s failure to qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia.

-- BERNAMA