POSER OVER SUMAREH’S STATUS
Issue over Gambian’s eligibility to play for Police in M-League
GAMBIA-born Mohamadou Sumareh is set to become Malaysia’s first naturalised player but his eligibility in representing his first club in the MLeague is now being questioned.
The 27-year-old, who was granted Malaysian citizenship recently, has been called up for national training by coach Tan Cheng Hoe for international friendlies against Sri Lanka on Oct 12 and Kyrgyzstan four days later.
According to FA of Malaysia’s (FAM) regulations (when the national body were managing the M-League), only foreign players who had played at least third-tier football in Europe and America; second division in Africa and Concacaf and first division in Asia and Oceania were allowed to sign with Malaysian teams.
In the case of Sumareh, who studied in Malaysia 12 years ago, he did not play for any foreign club before signing his first professional contract with Police in 2013.
“I have been in Malaysia since I was a kid. I trained with the Kuala Lumpur Youth Soccer (KLYS) academy as a teenager and then I was offered a chance to join the Steve Biko academy in Gambia. However, I was not offered a professional contract. I am happy to say that my first club was Police,” Sumareh said on www.footballmalaysia.com on
I have been in Malaysia since I was a kid. I trained with the Kuala Lumpur Youth Soccer academy as a teenager and then I was offered a chance to join the Steve Biko academy in Gambia.
He also had a one-season stint with Perlis before joining his present club Pahang last year.
Going by his revelation over his previous playing stints, the claim that he played for Steve Biko, a club in Gambia, as a professional can be disregarded, and it is a mystery how the player was allowed to play in the M-League then as he did not meet the requirements to be classified as an import player.
Goal.com, one of the most popular football websites in the world, also questioned Sumareh’s eligibility in their recent article.
NSTP Sport contacted FAM president Datuk Hamidin Amin pertaining to Sumareh’s issue on Thursday. Hamidin, however, referred it to his general-secretary Stuart Ramalingam.
“Let me get some details and will revert soon,” said Stuart via text message.
Sumareh and 23 other trainees will report to Cheng Hoe on Monday in Kelana Jaya for centralised training. The players will then leave for Colombo for the friendly two days later.