FA Cup expansion sees record 40 teams taking part

THE FA Cup begins its road to expansion on Feb 13 and could one day include as many as 100 teams to give amateur and social clubs a national platform to showcase talent.

Starting with a record 40 teams this year, the annual knockout tournament will see nine amateur and social clubs make their debut in the first round alongside seven from the third-tier FAM Cup.

The winners of the eight ties advance to the second round where glittering match ups against the likes of Johor Darul Ta'zim, Kedah, Pahang, Selangor and others from the Super League and Premier League await.

The launch of a fourth and fifth division this year will allow more teams to enter the FA Cup in the future, said Football Malaysia LLP chief executive officer Kevin Ramalingam.

"The intention is to turn the FA Cup into an all-inclusive competition where amateur, semi-pro and social clubs can pit their skills against the professional sides," said Kevin.

"Similarly as in England where the FA Cup is open to non-league teams, the tournament will see the amateur system to complement the professional system and allow mass participation as part of the vision of (FA of Malaysia president) Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim."

The FA Cup was introduced in 1990 when 16 teams played before being expanded in 1995 to include a few amateur clubs until hitting a record of 35 teams in 2016 and 2017.

An inter-state knockout competition was first played in the country in 1953 with the introduction of the FAM Cup, which subsequently evolved into an inter-club tournament in 1974 and reached a peak of 102 clubs in 1992.

Kevin said the nine amateur and social clubs invited this year were selected based on various criteria but future participants will come from the fourth and fifth tiers.

"In future, there could be over 90 teams competing in the FA Cup with the amateur and social clubs playing in the early rounds before the professional teams come into the fray," said Kevin.

The nine amateur teams to debut in the FA Cup are SRCC Kuala Lumpur, Jempol District Council, Axis-02 FC, CNA FC, Persada Integriti Bersatu FC, Malaysian Chinese FA, Invictus FC, Jerantut FA and Southern FC.

The fourth and fifth divisions will act as a feeder to the FAM Cup with promotion and relegation in effect. Devinder Singh