2020 QUEST GETS SUPPORT
Khairy welcomes plan to ensure Under-23 team qualify for Tokyo Olympics
DEVINDER SINGH
THE Sports Ministry will extend all its support to the FA of Malaysia (FAM) to ensure the national Under-23 football team qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Encouraged by the performance of coach Ong Kim Swee’s side at the recent AFC Under-23 Championship in China where Malaysia lost 2-1 to South Korea in the quarter-finals, Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin agreed that reaching Tokyo is a realistic proposition.
Khairy said he had a conversation earlier this week with FAM president Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim where the subject of Olympic qualification was discussed.
“I have discussed it with the FAM president and we will see how we can offer support, through sports science, for instance,” said Khairy after witnessing a sponsorship signing ceremony between the National Football Development Programme (NFDP) and Kumpulan Bina Darulaman Bhd yesterday.
“This Under-23 success is not only for Kim Swee but also the new FAM management.”
Kim Swee has requested that a plan to reach Tokyo be put in place now with the current batch of Under-21 players being given priority.
“With the improvement shown by the Under-19 squad under Bojan Hodak and NFDP coming through, I am not going to say the future is great but there is more than hope.
“These things should not be seen in the context of developing the national team only. You have to look at the entire ecosystem.
“A lot of the Under-23 players are playing for top clubs and they have shown they can perform at the highest level.”
Khairy said the government-supported NFDP initiative will continue regardless of the performance of its first batch of graduates.
NFDP’s first generation of players have been set a target of reaching the semifinals of the AFC Under-16 Championship in September and qualify for the Fifa Under-17 World Cup next year.
But even if the target is not met, Khairy insisted the programme must go beyond the 23,000 players currently in training nationwide.
“It is a long-term programme but one of the stated objectives of NFDP, and the firstgeneration team, is to qualify for the Under17 World Cup next year.
“That will depend on our performance this year. We are looking at that as an important milestone for us. But whatever happens there, I believe NFDP must continue,” he added.