Bung Moktar Cup to create potential young players

KOTA KINABALU: The organisation of the Datuk Seri Panglima Bung Moktar Radin (BMR) Cup under18 tournament is seen as a platform to create potential young football players in the near future.

Sabah Football Association (Safa) assistant secretary general Azman Mastar said the tournament is an effort by Safa to allow teenage players to showcase their abilities.

The tournament, which kick-started yesterday until Nov 28, will provide an opportunity for our young players to be absorbed into the Youth Cup team or the Reserve League as well as the soon established Bung Moktar Radin Academy (BMRA).

Azman said 60 players will be selected during the tournament by 11 experienced coaches and former players who have been assigned to the selection panel.

“Among the selection panel are Datuk James Wong, Scott Ollerenshaw, Matlan Marjan, Jelius Ating, Burhan Ajui, Yahya Kasim, Andrew Majanggim, Johny Dominicus, Stanley Chew, Awang Sabtu and Razali Zinin.

“We hope that through this tournament we will be able to create young talents with great potential for the future of Sabah FC team and Malaysia in general,” he said, adding that the programme will also be upgraded from time to time accordingly.

Meanwhile, Safa technical director Omar Maya Amat said the tournament is the best platform to create back-up players on an ongoing basis.

To realise the direction, Omar said the tournament will also allow Safa to identify not only talented players but also intelligent players.

“We want to find ‘smart’ players who have confidence and can think while on the field.

“A player’s physical size and their playing position is not a problem as both of these aspects can be built from time to time through training and exposure,” he said.