Invest more in local football talent — Steven

KUALA LUMPUR: Youth and Sports Deputy Minister, Steven Sim Chee Keong has called for more efforts to invest in local football talents, even though the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) is allowed to adopt naturalised players.

He said the use of naturalised players in Harimau Malaya, should not divert the focus of the continued development of the sport at grassroots level.

“In the long run, the best strategy to develop national football is to unearth the local talents. This has so far been done, so we have to look at football development strategy from an early age,” he told Bernama.

He said this after appearing as a guest on ‘Bernama Today’ over Bernama News Channel (BNC) at Wisma Bernama yesterday.

Commenting on views that imported players in the Malaysia League (M-League) was the cause of the national squad’s weak performance, as teams were fielding import players in the key positions such as strikers, Steven said local talent should be highlighted.

He said all quarters including coaches and teams competing in the M-League should be prepared to invest in local talent.

“For example, to spend money and to provide facilities and opportunities for local players to compete and show display their skills. It is an important component in sports development we definitely cannot ignore,” he said.

Recently, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) suggested having naturalised players in the national squad.

The suggestion was given the green light by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, but he reminded that local talents must not be sidelined.